27-04-2025
Brownlee brothers: ‘We started training on a £50 second-hand bike'
Mention the Brownlee brothers, and the iconic scene that usually springs to mind is of Alistair helping an exhausted Jonny over the finish line of the Triathlon World Series in Mexico, 2016. Despite the drama, they still placed second and third.
To date, Alistair and Jonny Brownlee have represented Team GB in the men's triathlon at three Olympic Games, twice sharing the podium and winning five medals between them.
Alistair, 36, announced his retirement from the sport at the end of last year, while Jonny, 34, may yet bring home more silverware.
You both grew up together, and you're very similar ages – but do you have similar attitudes to money?
Alistair: Jonny's definitely thriftier than me – you've never met anyone with such long pockets and short arms. I'm the generous one in the pair.
Jonny: Long pockets? That might be the nicest thing Alistair's ever said about me. I'd say we're pretty careful [with money] and thinking for the future. Our parents are both doctors and they weren't into nice cars or anything like that, they were more into planning for the future.
Are you grateful for that upbringing now you're adults?
J: I think so, yes. Saving is incredibly important, and that's why we're part of this campaign, the NatWest Couch to Cash: £5k Challenge. If you want to set yourself up for the future and do everything you want to do with as few restrictions as possible, saving is part of that.
What I've sometimes not done very well after the big victories or events is to celebrate – I've always moved on to the next thing. Sometimes I look back on that and think maybe I should have taken that in and enjoyed those moments a bit more. But I'm still pretty pleased that we were quite careful.
Have you ever splashed out to celebrate getting on the Olympic podium or another achievement?
A: I told all my friends that if I won a gold medal, I think in Rio, then I was going to treat myself to an Aston Martin – and I couldn't do it. And – it's not quite true, because it didn't quite work out like this – but people like to joke that I went out for an Aston Martin and came back with a Volvo.
Really, I think the treat for both of us after those big achievements has been a bit of time off and time at home, as boring as that sounds. When you do a lot of travelling and live a pretty intense existence, the most valuable thing is having a bit of time and freedom.
J: It's the same for me. A dream for me is having time with friends and my wife and having the freedom to do normal stuff.
I do remember, Christmas 2012 – it was a normal Christmas and I was 22 at this point – and I went to my parents' house and got some nice presents, but then went back home and ordered myself an Xbox One. I was, like, 'You know what? I can actually [afford to] do this now.'
I remember being home on Boxing Day and just playing Xbox, and that's what I wanted. Having been a young kid growing up who couldn't do that, and realising now I can, that was quite a big moment for me.
Triathlon isn't the cheapest sport – did you have to make any financial sacrifices early on?
A: There is a lot of cash involved for equipment at times, but you can definitely do it much simpler than you think and we were very lucky doing it from a young age to have amazing parents who supported us. We started as eight-year-olds, and at that age you're not going to buy your own kit.
I think my first bike was a second-hand Raleigh Flyer, it must've been about £50 or something and I've actually just got that bike back a couple of years ago, after it had been used by local kids.
So, that just shows it can be done on a budget, and I think that's fantastic. Then, by the time we were 18 or 19, we were very lucky that we were starting to get some sponsorship and some companies were helping us out.
J: And I pretty much got all of Alistair's kit second-hand. I remember getting bikes that he'd used and grown out of – it was always very special for me to get those bikes. You know when you're a kid, you look at a new bike and you're like 'wow'.
You mentioned saving for the future – how have you been planning for retirement?
A: I think financially I've always been a saver, and I've always been lucky enough to [be able to] save money over the years. I also had a pretty solid idea that I was going to retire when I did. And I worked hard at working out what I wanted to do, experiencing different things, trying to work out what I was good at and where I could add value. To an extent I'm still working it out.
Have you dabbled in any investments?
A: Both of us are investors across lots of different things, sort of a standard investment portfolio – a bit of property and some early-stage investments and we have different risk profiles and interests. I think investing is really important and, for both of us, it's been an important strategy to save now to have a clearer future – as you said, athletes' careers are very short aren't they?
Are there any financial decisions you've made that you're particularly pleased with?
J: Overall for us, just starting to save young – we were encouraged to do that. There was an option when we got that first bit of prize money to go out and spend it on expensive jeans or whatever, but we were encouraged by our manager, our family – and probably Alistair as well, for me – to start saving young. And the earlier you save, the easier it becomes.
There's no one-off decision I've made that's changed my life, but it's putting money aside into different things Al's talked about. Then you look back and think 'wow', as it's increased in value quite a lot.
Do you remember a point when you started putting money away?
J: Our manager got us talking to a financial adviser pretty much as soon as I started racing as a senior, which is when you start winning prize money. The adviser was someone our parents had talked to before – and that's how I knew about financial advisers, but I knew nothing else.
You might think you don't talk to these people until you get to 30 or 40, but he told us the way to do it – instead of letting money just build up in your bank account, he explained how you can do other stuff with it. You've got to save, and then use it.
