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Great Britain triathlete Alistair Brownlee has been crowned world champion, with brother Jonathan joining him on the podium in second place.

The Yorkshire-born pair went into the season-ending Grand Final in Beijing separated by only 120 points, and it was Alistair, the eldest brother by two years at 22, who took the line first.

Alistair came home in a time of one hour, 48 minutes and seven seconds.

"It's nice to do it twice and show it's not a fluke" Alistair said afterwards.

Meanwhile, Welsh triathlete Helen Jenkins, from Bridgend, needs a top three finish to clinch the women's title on Sunday (0630 BST).

Crossing the line first helped Alistair secure a second International Triathlon Union World Championship title and, although Jonathan was pipped to second place on the day by Sven Riederer, the younger Brownlee still finished in the silver position overall.

Alistair ended the season with 4,285 points and Jonathan with 3,992, while Spain's Javier Gomez made up the podium, having come into the tournament as the reigning champion.

The Brownlees were the first out of the water following the swim, with Jonathan marginally ahead, but Olympic champion Jan Frodeno did not make it to the bikes after being caught on the back of the head.

Both Brownlees maintained their position at the head of the pack during the 40-kilometre ride, with the gap between the lead group and the chasing pack over a minute come the end of it.

The brothers moved clear at the start of the run before Alistair dropped Jonathan close to home as the younger brother began to tire.

Jonathan was eventually passed by Riederer but still gained enough points to make second place his own overall.

Alistair's time shaved 50 seconds off the one Frodeno won gold with on the same course in 2008, while trimming nearly two minutes off his own from three years ago.

"I think that's my 11th world series win so I'm racking them up, which is good as well," said Alistair.

"I think this has been my best year, 2009 might look better on paper, but I think this year has been better.

"I've had better races, I've had a few dodgy ones on the way, but I think my best races have been really good and it was great to finish it off here today."

Jonathan shared his brother's sense of struggle, adding: "It's a first senior World Championship for me and to finish second I am really pleased.

"I didn't feel my best. It's a tough course. I was first out of the swim, which I've not done before, but I was tired during the run and I'm pleased I held on to third."

Jonathan now already has his mind on 2012, he said: "I feel good because I'm second in the world now, but the Olympics do seem a long way away. I hope I've done enough to get selected.

"It's been a long hard season, so I need to get home and have some rest and get ready for next year."

Jenkins, 27, tops the world rankings after a fantastic performance across the seven-race series, winning July's Hyde Park event where, along with the Brownlee brothers, she also qualified a place for 2012, and finishing second in Madrid and Kitzbuhel.

She won the world title in 2008, though it was a one-off race back then as opposed to a series, so was a strong medal hope at the Beijing Olympics but finished a disappointing 21st.

Britain is now the world's leading elite triathlon nation, with lots of young talent such as Matt Sharp, David McNamee and Tom Bishop who made it a GB 1-2-3 in the men's U23 event in Beijing on Friday, and a multiple world champion in the Ironman discipline in Chrissie Wellington.

Despite that Britain has never won an Olympic medal in triathlon since the sport became a part of the Games in 2000.