Jonny Brownlee on mixing business with pleasure in Supertri
Jonny Brownlee credits Supertri with saving his career and now the Olympic gold medallist is hoping the super-sprint triathlon series can ensure he still has one after hanging up his tri suit.
The 35-year-old and brother Alistair own and manage a team – Brownlee Racing, featuring leading Brits including Alex Yee, Beth Potter and Jess Learmonth – in the swim-bike-run competition, whose UK leg this year is expected to be in Jersey.
But Jonny Brownlee is still planning to compete for the team for at least the next two seasons, having seen it give him a timely boost ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he won the mixed relay alongside Yee and Learmonth.
“Supertri has genuinely saved my career along the way. I had ups and downs of injuries going into Tokyo, not quite sure I could still compete at that level. And every time Supertri gave me hope,” Brownlee tells City PM.
“Coming from a race in Singapore where I actually won the Supertri event, it was like: ‘I can still do this’. So from a personal point of view, Supertris are always giving that hope and showing that I can compete against the best athletes.
“I genuinely want to be competitive and up front. I’ll only be an active member of the team in racing while I can be a positive addition to it. As soon as that’s not the case anymore, I think I’ll take more of a team management role.”
Brownlee and Supertri have big ambitions
Brownlee has extra motivation for his team to succeed. Nurturing the next generation of talent in a sport the brothers put on the map is one carrot, but as an investor he also has an eye on bringing in money to make the business a long-term proposition.
“If our team was to win and we were at the same time bedding in some of the next generation of young British athletes, and raise the profile of the sport, then it ticks all the boxes,” he adds.
“Obviously success means that it brings in money, makes the team sustainable, helps with sponsors. And we want to be sustainable. We want this to be over many years, not just one or two years and then it’s gone. And the only way to do that is to be competitive.”
London-based Supertri, founded by CEO Michael D’Hulst and billionaire Leonid Boguslavsky, has big ambitions of its own. It is looking to raise $65m (£48m) to accelerate growth, with expanding its branded mass participation events from 10 to 50 a priority.
Sport has never been more popular with investors. The longer-distance, Sir Michael Moritz and Warner Bros Discovery-backed T100 Triathlon tour – in which Alistair Brownlee has competed – has already shown the sport is an attractive bet. It too is raising an eight-figure sum.
“It’s a really good time for triathlon now, to have different events, and a good time for the whole growth of the sport,” says Jonny. “Instead of it being opposition between different events, I think it’s good that we’ve got more focus on the sport of triathlon and I’m sure that helps everyone.”