What retirement looks like for Alistair Brownlee

Alistair Brownlee signed off from his racing career six months ago. Since then, it’s been boxsets, beer and Benidorm… Or not, as we discovered on catching up with Britain’s busiest retiree.

“I’m still training two or three hours a day and really enjoying getting out there just for the love of triathlon and exercise. Do I miss the racing? We’ll see once the season really kicks in. But I have so many other ventures going on that I’ll definitely be preoccupied.”

At the end of November 2024, Alistair Brownlee announced his retirement from triathlon. “It’s time to close this chapter…” he wrote on social media. When we catch up with the 37-year-old, it’s clear his new beginnings isn’t confined to one chapter…

Planning for beyond racing

When he called time on a professional career that saw him become the only triathlete ever to win two individual Olympic gold medals, along the way elevating the world of multisport from the margins to the masses, in typically pragmatic fashion Alistair Brownlee revealed that his retirement had been a long time coming.

“I’ve been planning for this day for a long time,” he revealed in that online post. “I’ve always had a pathological fear of having nothing to do, and I didn’t want to wake up the morning after my last race and I’ve nothing to do apart from go to the pub. That would be a disaster. So, I’ve got all kinds of things and projects that I’m really looking forward to, excited to do and stay active, stay involved in sport.”

“So, you’re not kicking back and watching Loose Women on loop?” I ask Brownlee, who’s at home in his converted barn. It’s the curtain call to our interview that had me questioning what I’m doing with my life. That morning, he’d already ticked off a long gravel ride in the Dales. “I’ve also run most days since I retired,” he says. Like many of us, swimming? Not so much. “Just a couple times.”

But it’s his business and philanthropic interests that have consumed the majority of his time, including the recent launch of truefuels, which he’s co-founded with business expert and former professional tennis player Goran Vasiljevic.

Experienced nutritionist Nigel Mitchell is involved, too. Or the guinea pig, strategist and mixologist. Brownlee’s hoping it’ll prove a winning combination, but it won’t be easy in the highly competitive sports-nutrition market. It begs the question: what’s the USP?

“It’s similar to my philosophy around my racing career – to simplify complicated things. That’s from the clear guidance of how much nutrition a triathlete needs to the ingredients, which are stripped right back.”

That minimalist approach stretches to both the range launch – just the one gel – and its ingredients list – “six high-quality ingredients, including coconut powder and Himalayan salt, designed for high absorption and zero GI distress.”

Brownlee says the aim is to bring a new product to market each month for the rest of the year across the spectrum of sports and health nutrition. That means, recovery products, electrolytes and daily supplements.

Collective input, sole decision maker

As well as Mitchell and Vasiljevic, Brownlee has sought the input of a band of what he calls ‘co-creators’. “It’s around 80 people who we’re asking questions of all the time.

Which flavour do you prefer? What’s important to you in a specific supplement? What kind of packaging do you like? Do you understand how much of this you should take in certain conditions? It’s been interesting to collate the views of so many people.”

Which, we ask, must be anathema to an elite athlete for whom a blinkered, nay selfish approach to performance is a prerequisite in search of the marginal gains needed to separate the haves and have nots?

“It’s certainly been refreshing and interesting,” Brownlee replies. “But at the end of the day, it’s been a similar decision-making process that I adopted in my professional racing career.

That was very much characterised by assessing all the information I possibly could, from every source, whether that’s coaches, scientific literature or exercise physiologists, and making a call on it. It’s great to seek different perspectives but the decision still falls on you.”

Brownlee says his interest in nutrition flourished over time. As a 20-year-old, the whippersnapper who caught the world’s notice by leading the 2008 Beijing Olympics before fading on the run paid little attention to the science of fuelling.

“That changes as the years roll by,” he says. “Recovery takes longer, training’s harder, so you’ve got to concentrate more on the other aspects.”

“Things also changed when I moved from Olympic distance to longer-racing,” he adds. “For an elite Olympic-distance athlete, I’d say race nutrition makes up a small part of the overall performance matrix. Maybe 10%, albeit that’s greater for a recreational triathlete who’s racing for a longer period of time.

When you move beyond that distance, nutrition becomes incredibly important. How much carbohydrate can you metabolise? How much salt do you need?

When racing Ironman and T100, I tested many different types of nutrition and different ratios of sugars, building up precise fuelling plans. It really ignited a passion.”

Removing barriers to sport

Whether a truefuels gel would have prevented brother Jonny bonking in the legendary finish to the 2016 Triathlon World Series in Mexico that saw Alistair carry him over the finish line, forming an image and narrative that transcended sport, remains to be seen.

What’s clearer is that he has his fingers in many of the Fray Bentos pies that he loved in his younger days. “For a long time, I’ve been interested in investing in projects and helping, and building, businesses. It’s all about removing people’s barriers to sport.

“One example is Spatzwear. It’s a cycling clothing brand that I started with one of my best friends several years ago and is about delivering the best kit available to ride through the cold weather.

There’s also Brownlee Fitness, which is about giving training advice and building the multisport community.”

“Outside of the business sphere is the Brownlee Foundation, which is a purely philanthropic venture where we provide free opportunities for young people to experience triathlon and sport.

“In the 10 years we’ve been running it, over 70,000 kids have enjoyed a free triathlon with us. This year’s down as our biggest yet with another 15,000 set to try our sport out. The events are all over England and we’re immensely proud of them.”

Age-groupers can enjoy the fruits of the Foundation, too, as in 2024 they bought out TriHard Events, whose portfolio of races included the Helvellyn Triathlon, which Brownlee has won twice.

There’s also the Ripon Triathlon Festival and, new for 2025, the Leeds Triathlon, which will be based at Roundhay Park on Sunday 3rd August.

“All profits will be donated to the Foundation,” says Brownlee. “We’re keen to put on racing opportunities that are as inclusive and economical as possible. We all know there’s been a reduction in competing opportunities since Covid and it’s important we redress that balance.”

2025 ‘race schedule’

As for Brownlee’s own ‘race schedule’, it’s all about enjoyment and trying something new. “I’ve pencilled in a few gravel events including The Traka 360 in Girona in May. That’s probably the premier gravel event in Europe.”

And one of the most demanding. As the name suggests, The Traka covers 360km of gravel, asphalt and trails while racking up over 3,700m of climbing. “I’ll look to race some other different challenges but they’re to be confirmed.”

Seeking variety to spice up his ‘retired’ life has already seen Brownlee pop up at Parkruns and the Quid Games, a new orienteering event held on the sprawling Broughton Estate in mid-January.

“It was organised by my friends at Sports Shoes. I really like that they’re creating fun and different sporting events to get people involved.

“It was local to me, so I thought what else should I be doing on a dark Saturday winter’s evening in retirement?! I’d really like to do some ultra running, too, but your body must be in great nick. And I’m not totally convinced with challenges that involve chronic sleep loss.”

It’s hardly surprising that an athlete who’s trained 30 to 40 hours a week for the best part of 20 years could instantly shift down several gears. I’ve seen the same when covering cycling, of riders who continue to rack up large mileages even once they’d hung up their professional bib shorts.

Which might not be a bad thing. Jens Voigt told me that his team’s doctor prescribed him a ‘detraining plan’. If he went from 60 to zero in a short space of time, he said, it could be dangerous for his health.

I mention this to Brownlee. “You probably do need a formal easing down but in truth I haven’t eased down that much. Yesterday, I ran with the likes of Beth [Potter] in the morning and rode with the team in the afternoon.

“But there’s a big difference to this year and last. It’s gone from ‘I have to do this’ to ‘I don’t have to do this but I’m doing it because it’s sunny and I want to get out and train with friends’. That’s quite a mind shift and I’m enjoying it.”

How much fun one can have from climbing El Teide is debatable. Tenerife’s most brutal climb is 48.3km long and racks up 2,457 metres at an average gradient of 5.1%. Brownlee recently revisited the Canary Island where he’d spent many a camp training at altitude and it sets him adrift on memory bliss.

“I remember being there once for two weeks and I summited the volcano 10 times. One it’d be ‘a session’, another it’d be easy. But it was always different.”

“That particular time I was staying at the Parador Hotel [where the pros head to sleep as well as train at altitude], but then sometimes we’d stay in the small houses that nestle on the other side of the crater,” he adds.

“Those were proper, hardcore Rocky-style training camps. We didn’t have mains electricity – it was just an erratic generator – and you had to light a fire to warm up. We had no phone signal. And it was brilliant. Some of my happiest training memories are on that volcano.”

Wonderful days gone by. But Brownlee’s no romantic. He’s forever looking forward, forever seeking new opportunities. That planning will stave off the retired sportsperson’s comedown that too often leaves them directionless, empty and seeking solace at the bottom of a bottle.

Brownlee is active, pro-active. It’s in his DNA. He is no spectator to life. But will be a spectator to racing in 2025. What’s he looking forward to?

“Well, I enjoyed watching the new Indoor Triathlon World Cup. It’s quite a cool format. From a British perspective, I’m looking forward to seeing what Alex [Yee] can do at the London Marathon and how he’ll transition back to triathlon.

On the women’s side, I know Beth [Potter] will keep pushing on. She was a little disappointed with [bronze at] the Olympics last year, so she’s super motivated to make amends, which is good to see. She ran a really fast 10km recently to qualify for the British athletics team for the Euros, so is in good form.”

As is Alistair. And why would he not be with myriad ventures to focus his attention, from launching and expanding the truefuels range to bringing a new triathlon to the city he’s so fond of and training for one of the world’s greatest gravel events.

It leaves me to ask one final, very important question that I’d presumed was on the lips of long-time 220 readers around the world: does he ever meet up with his historic rival Javier Gomez?

“We message a bit; in fact, I saw him in Ibiza last year. I was racing and he’d just announced his retirement. We had a really nice chat and we agreed to undertake some form of challenge together.

“We’ll be part of a team. When it’ll happen, who knows.” Presumably when Brownlee has space in his calendar, which could well be never…

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