Olympic Triathlon 2016: Men's Individual Medal Winners, Times and Results

Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee defended his Olympic title in the triathlon on Thursday, dominating the 2016 race in Rio de Janeiro on his way to a second consecutive gold medal. 

The 28-year-old and his brother Jonny Brownlee put together a flawless race and took the lead as a duo early in the running section, and the elder Brownlee finished the job in the final kilometers. Jonny Brownlee finished in second place, and the bronze went to South Africa's Henri Schoeman.

Here's a look at the medallists and their finishing times:

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
	Alistair Brownlee (GBR)	Jonny Brownlee (GBR)	Henri Schoeman (RSA)
Time	1:45:01	+0.06	+0.42

Recap

Adam Pretty/Getty Images

The Brownlee brothers were once again among the favourites to take the gold, along with Spain's Mario Mola. With the swimming stage taking place in the ocean rather than a lake, early splits were expected.

Former Olympian Keri-anne Payne noticed it didn't take long for the first gaps to appear:

Slovakia's Richard Varga, one of the top swimmers in the bunch, set the early pace, and Mola quickly fell behind. By the time the first group left the water, their lead was already up to 16 seconds over Mola, with both Brownlee brothers sitting comfortably in the top six.

On the bike, the leaders quickly widened the gap even more. Paced by the Brownlee brothers and France's Vincent Luis, they pushed their lead to the one-minute mark, per Runner's World SA:

Great Britain's Gordon Benson played a crucial part in shielding the Brownlees during the swim, but he fell off the pace on the bike and suffered a crash as well, killing his chances of a high finish.

But all eyes were on the two leading groups, where Mola lost more than a minute on the bike. The Brownlee brothers and Luis were the quickest to change and started the running stage in the lead, while Mola saved his energy and started the chase down 80 seconds.

David Goldman/Associated Press

Luis was dropped after 2.5 kilometers, leaving Alistair and Jonny Brownlee as the two leaders, with Schoeman putting in a strong shift further back. Sean Ingle of the Guardian anticipated a battle for the gold between the siblings:

The two brothers showed they've been training together, alternating shifts beautifully, although Jonny's appeared to be a little longer. Schoeman trailed the duo by seven seconds halfway through the running section, with Mola still trailing the duo by a minute.

Alistair Brownlee made his move inside the final five kilometers, attacking with fury and quickly distancing his brother. The defending champion timed his attack to perfection, and before long, a second gold medal seemed certain.

He soon started doubling athletes and taking flags from fans. The Guardian's Daniel Harris was impressed:

His younger brother held on for second place, while Schoeman finished solo to take the bronze.