Alistair Brownlee raised Great Britain's hopes of a medal in the Olympic men's triathlon event today when he briefly held the lead at the start of the final running leg.

The 20-year-old Brownlee was in front of the leading group but was overhauled by eventual winner Jan Frodeno of Germany, Simon Whitfield of Canada, Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and Francisco Javier of Spain.

Australian Emma Snowsill was crowned as the new Olympic gold medalist having won today in Beijing. Vanessa Fernandes finished second to take the silver. Emma Moffatt capped off a stellar day for Australia, coming from behind to take the bronze.

Britain's reigning World Champion Helen Tucker finished in 21st whilst Hollie Avil dropped out on the bike having suffered with illness since Saturday.

"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Snowsill at the post-race press conference. "I knew I had to get out on that run, coming down on the last lap I had to throw in whatever I had left. There is nothing like running scared. I had to make sure I didn't leave anything out on that field. I put every ounce of energy into this."