"Definitely to keep the title in the family is pretty special," said Jonathan, whose brother Alistair – currently recovering from having his appendix removed having won the Olympic title in London – was world champion last year.

"It's been a great year more than anything.

"If at the start of the year someone said that Alistair would be Olympic champion and I would be Olympic bronze medallist and world champion as well, I would definitely have taken that."

The 22-year-old younger brother needed a top-three finish in the Auckland finale to win the title after taking a 180-point lead into the last of the eight races.

Javier Gómez of Spain reacts as he wins the Grand Final of the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series

He came within two seconds of winning the grand final, beaten into second by Javier Gómez, the 29-year-old Olympic silver medallist, but his overall score of 4,935 left him 90 ahead of the Spaniard, with Russia's Dmitry Polyansky third overall.

"It was a tough day today," said Jonathan, who won races in San Diego, Madrid and Stockholm this season.

"The bike was really, really hard and [in] the first bit of the run everyone was tired.

"The first two laps were nice and easy and then Javier attacked and it came to a sprint at the end and my tactics were shocking; I led him out into the wind and he just came past me.

"I am pleased the season's over, it's been a long year and I'm tired now."

Wales' Non Stanford won the ITU women's under-23 title

There was further British success as 23-year-old Non Stanford of Wales won the women's under-23 title on Saturday (October 20), finishing nine seconds clear of Sarissa De Vries from the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Sweden's Lisa Nordén, who appealed unsuccessfully against being given the Olympic silver at London 2012 after finishing in the same time as the gold medallist, Switzerland's Nicola Spirig, is celebrating winning the overall women's world title after her fourth-place finish in the Grand Final.

Nordén revealed after her race that she had required overnight treatment in hospital before the race after suffering from food poisoning.

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