Olympic Triathlon Results 2012: Top Storylines from Thrilling Endurance Event

The men's triathlon at the 2012 London Olympics produced some thrilling results for the host nation, and a memorable finish for one British family. 

The three-stage endurance event, which requires athletes to swim, bike and run for significant periods of time, flies under the radar at the Games, but it produced plenty of juicy story lines this Olympiad. 

Let's take a look at the top headlines from the Tuesday's men's triathlon.

Men's Triathlon Final Results:

Gold: Alistair Brownlee, 1:46:25 Great Britain 

Silver: Javier Gomez, 1:46:36, Spain

Bronze: Jonathan Brownlee, 1:46:56, Great Britain

Brothers Finish On the Podium

Brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain pulled off the unthinkable on Tuesday, finishing first and third respectively in the men's triathlon at the 2012 Games.

The Brownlees' rare finish didn't come as much of a surprise considering that Alistair and Jonathan were the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked triathletes in the world coming into the Olympics, but for them to both medal on the brightest stage imaginable is still pretty incredible.

Even though Jonathan Brownlee has a bronze to smile about, big brother Alistair can still boast for the next four years that he was 31 seconds faster.

Americans Come Up Short

Four-time US Olympian Hunter Kemper missed out on a podium finish by a little less than two minutes, finishing 14th in the field of 55 competitors. 

Meanwhile, Manuel Huerta, who won a silver medal at the 2011 Pan Am Games, finished 51st, more than seven minutes behind gold medalist Alistair Brownlee. 

Kemper had improved on his finishing place in every Olympic Games since Sydney in 2000, but went backwards in 2012, after finishing seventh in Beijing four years ago.

Heartbreak For the French

French triathletes David Hauss and Laurent Vidal both narrowly missed out on a medal in Day 11's endurance competition.

Hauss finished in fourth, 18 seconds back of bronze, while Vidal crossed the line just seven seconds after his fellow countryman, finishing fifth. 

If one or both of them could have landed a medal, then France would have been catapulted into the top five in the medal standings with just a few more days left of the Games. 

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