Brothers in arms: Jonny Brownlee falls at final hurdle in Mexico

The Brownlee brothers have hit the headlines once again - but this time it isn't for winning.

Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, who between them have divided up the majority of triathlon's biggest prizes since 2012, were racing in Mexico for the end of the World Triathlon Series.

Jonny, the younger of the two, went into the final race of the series in second place behind Spaniard Mario Mola.

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For overall victory, he needed to win the race and have Mola finish no higher than fourth – something that looked set to happen after the brothers worked hard in tandem to push the pace on the swim and bike legs.

Jonny was comfortably ahead leading the race into the final kilometre of the 10km run when disaster struck and he found himself staggering, dazed and confused, in the Mexican heat, allowing South African Henri Schoeman, who took bronze behind the Brownlees in Rio, to overtake and win.

It looked as if the younger Brownlee would be unable to finish until Alistair, who had been running comfortably in third, put his arm around his brother and all but carried him along the final few hundred metres before pushing him across the line.

However, despite Jonny finishing second, Mola, who came in fifth, took the title by just four points.

After the race, Jonny was taken to hospital as a precaution, but later tweeted his thanks to his older brother.

Alistair, who suffered a similar drama in London's Hyde Park in 2010, told the BBC: "It's an awful position to be in.

"If he'd conked out before the finish line and there wasn't medical support, it could have been really dangerous.

"It was a natural human reaction to my brother but for anyone, I would have done the same thing. I think it's as close to death as you can be in sport."

He also had a few choice words for his baby brother's decision to go so hard at the start of the race.

"I wish the flipping idiot had just paced it right and won the race. He could have jogged the last 2km," said the Olympic double-gold medallist.