London 2012 bronze medallist Jonathan Brownlee insists he is back to full health as he prepares to kickstart his ITU World Triathlon Series campaign off in style in Japan.
Brownlee had been forced to sit out the opening two races of the Series due to an ankle injury, his older brother and Olympic champion Alistair going on to claim victory in San Diego.
But with the injury now behind him Jonathan will finally get his assault underway in Yokohama this Saturday, where he will line up against Olympic silver medallist Javier Gomez and current world number one Joao Silva.
“The ankle is absolutely fine now, there’s nothing wrong with it at all,” Jonathan said.
“Obviously I haven’t been training as well as I would have liked to train but then I think a bit of a break might be quite good for me after last year.
“I’m really looking forward to racing, it’s been a while without racing so I’ve got the bug to start again.”
Meanwhile, fellow Brit Adam Bowden will be relishing his return to Yokohama having finished sixth there last year and seventh in 2011. He posted a sixth place finish in San Diego, indicating that he is on form for another top finish against a quality field this weekend.
David McNamee is another British athlete in the hunt for a top ten finish. He was tenth in San Diego last month having had an excellent winter’s training. Joining them on the start line are Aaron Harris, Mark Buckingham and Phil Wolfe.
The women’s race features Britain’s Jodie Stimpson and Katie Hewison and in a small field of just 23 athletes, Stimpson, will have her sights on her first ever podium finish having finished fifth in San Diego.
© Sportsbeat 2013