Horsforth's Alistair Brownlee has surprised himself by becoming world junior (under-20) triathlon champion in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"I thought I had a chance of a medal but I didn't expect to win," confessed the former Bradford Grammar School student of last Saturday's race.

The 18-year-old, who starts studying medicine at Cambridge University in the autumn, added: "Last year's winner from the United States didn't even get a medal, and I had a really bad run in 2005 when the World Champion-ships were held in Japan."

Brownlee came out of the 750-metre swim phase, held in Lake Lausanne, in the leading group but halfway through the five-kilometre run he was five seconds ahead of eventual runner-up, Russian Alexander Brunhankov.

The victory was part of a superb championships for the Corus-backed Great Britain squad as they also won the men's event via Tim Don and the under-23 men's (Will Clarke).

On Sunday, Brownlee faces a different challenge - the World Mountain Running Trophy in Turkey!