Britannia Ruled, the Spanish Armada were out to sea and, more importantly South Africa shone. As bright as a Rainbow.
It is was almost deja vu to Athens 2004. Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty infiltrated an early break on a challenging bike course, which proved to be the decisive move. The two Kiwis, along with Switzerland's Sven Riederer, ended up on the podium after a true race of attrition.
One couldn't help but see history repeating itself yesterday, what with the Brownlees driving the bike leg literally from the get-go and effectively forcing a ten-man breakaway. The chasers didn't stand a chance really as the gap grew by the lap, thus cancelling out many a contender.
Not that this breakaway just happened. Far from it as it appeared a premeditated move on Team GB's part. The presence of Richard Varga didn't hurt the Brownlee's tactics either; the Slovakian is good friends with the rugged Yorkshiremen and spends a lot of time training with them.
The rest history now as Alistair Brownlee is the first man to successfully defend his Olympic title. Good for him I say and trust that he, Jonny and friends enjoy their off-season trekking adventures with relish. Henri Schoeman's brilliant third place made for a great South African, flavoured somewhat by countryman Richard Murray's blazing through the field for a close fourth.
So with this in mind, here is a summary of my live Tweets from yesterday. More to come on Saturday, internet connection and inclination dependent.
