World champion Jonathan Brownlee will miss the San Diego World Triathlon Series event on April 20 due to an ankle injury. Brownlee was withdrawn from the start list of the event a few days ago, and it will mean that he will not be able to defend his title for the race he won last year.

The British broadcaster BBC quoted Jonny Brownlee as saying:

“I’m really disappointed not to be going to San Diego. But [I’m] waiting another couple of weeks to get myself race fit after injury is the right thing to do with a whole season ahead of me.”

His brother Alistair, Olympic Champion and two-time World Champion is however competing and hoping to keep the race title in the family.

As Jonny also did not compete in the season opener in Auckland, the withdrawal will make his defence of his world title more difficult as he only has six World Triathlon Series events left to compete in - which leaves little margin for error. 

The final rankings are obtained by adding the points gained in the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final plus the four best scores in the ITU World Triathlon Series. A maximum of two ITU Triathlon World Cup scores may also count, but these carry significantly less points (a world cup win is approximately equivalent to a 19th place finish in a World Triathlon Series event). Click here for full series ranking criteria.

With Spain’s Javier Gomez taking the first series win of the season in devastating fashion, Gomez has clearly set his sights on winning back the title he last won in 2010. All eyes will now be on Great Britain’s Alistair Brownlee to see can he prevent the Spaniard from collecting a second consecutive win in San Diego.

The race will be broadcast live on www.triathlon.org/tv on April 20th.

Click here for full start lists.