The 21-year-old Yorkshireman, who last year became the first man to complete the set of ITU world titles as he added the senior gold to those he had previously won as a junior and under 23 competitor, is already resigned to missing the first two meetings in this year’s Dextro Energy World Championship series, in Sydney on April 11 and Seoul on May 8.

But Brownlee, who has already started swimming and cycling again, is hopeful that if the scan is encouraging he might be back in time for the third round of the series in Madrid on June 5-6 or the European Championships in Dublin the following month.

"The key priority is to get back to fitness and not to try and come back too soon and risk creating another problem," Brownlee told insidethegames today as he announced at the Sports Journalists’ Association lunch in London that he would be targeting the Hyde Park event which forms the fifth round of the world championship series on July 25.

Victory in last year’s Hyde Park triathlon, which set Brownlee up for his final flourish in the grand final on Australia’s Gold Coast, did masses to raise his profile into an athlete who is being spoken of as a strong contender for medals at the 2012 London Olympics.

"Having that race live on TV did a lot for me and the sport," he said.

"It was a big step forward in terms of profile.

"The Hyde Park triathlon is hugely important to me. With the Olympic Games coming at the same venue, this is the one to win.

"It’s also great to lay down a marker in front of the home fans and London will be more crucial this year because I’m almost certain to miss the first two events of the ITU series because of injury."

Meanwhile Brownlee’s younger brother Jonathan, the world junior silver medallist and European junior champion, is looking forward to emulating his success as he embarks on his first year as a senior.

Such talent raises the tantalising possibility of more than one Brownlee being on the Olympic podium in London two years down the line.

"Why not?" says Alistair.

First, however, he has to determine the recovery he is making from a problem which he first thought was just a stiffness in his left hip.

"I almost feel like I deserved it," he said.

"Because I pushed myself so hard last year."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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