ALISTAIR and Jonathan Brownlee want to inspire the triathletes that will follow their lead – but they aren’t going anywhere yet.

Alistair defended his Olympic title in Rio while his brother upgraded his London 2012 bronze to silver.

And, aged 28 and 26, they show no signs of slowing down and are pretty big names for those coming through the ranks to knock off their perch.

“I’d like to say it pushes those coming through,” said the Olympic champion.

“It might give them the inspiration to try, and they never know just how far they might go, everyone is beatable.”

The all-conquering brothers were in London recently to promote their foundation, with children taking part in a mini-triathlon race, which featured a 25-metre swim, an 800-metre cycle and a 400-metre run.

Organised by Acton-based yoghurt brand The Collective, long-time supporters of the foundation and more than 700 youngsters, aged between seven and eight, took part.

And it took Alistair back to his early days in the sport back in his native Yorkshire.

“We race all over the world, and you’ve got no idea what impact it has at home because you’re not there and you’re just focusing on your racing, so it’s great when kids are here just cheering on one of their school friends,” he said.

“It’s great to see things like that and you do have that impact, however small, it’s fantastic to see that you have it.

“We realised we’re in a unique position in triathlon that enough people know who we are and that we can inspire people to be involved in our sport.

“It doesn’t necessarily matter that it’s triathlon, for us, it’s just a vessel that we can use to try and encourage kids to be active. 

“We came up with the idea of putting on these events to give as many young people as possible exposure to doing a triathlon in the hope that some then get inspired to take it up and do a bit more.”

The Brownlee’s heroics this year are set to be recognised in a host of upcoming sports awards in the coming weeks but it will be the image of them crossing the finish line at ITU World Triathlon Series in Mexico, rather than Rio, that will live in the memory.

Jonathan looked to be heading for a victory that would have secured the world title until he collapsed, dehydrated, just metres from the line.

His elder sibling carried him down the finish straight in an act of brotherly love, although he later slammed his tactics, in a way that only big brothers can.

“It just all happened in an instant,” he recalled.

 “I came around the corner, saw him there and the instinct was to pick him up and take him to the finish line as quickly as possible.

“Later as we started going down the finish line I started thinking more about it and then we crossed the finish line, and I started thinking more about the rules and the connotations a bit more.” 

The Olympic champion is keeping his options open for next year and may only race in the World Series in his Leeds hometown, but for Jonathan it’s a case of unfinished business.

“Next year I will be taking part, as long as the body is ok and I’ve got no injuries,” he said. 

“Hopefully I’ll be racing in the Gold Coast in April time for the World Triathlon Series, and then my inspirations for the next four years is hopefully to be in Tokyo.

“If the body holds up and I can go to it then I’ll hopefully be there. And then hopefully do world champion next year, I messed up this year.”