Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee and his brother Jonathan shared a symbolic dual finish after a dominant performance in the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon short-course race.

In front of a buoyant East Plaza crowd, the British duo crossed the line holding the Yorkshire flag together in a record shattering three hours, 12 minutes and 21 seconds.

The Brownlees were the star names as a sold out, 2,400-strong field of professional and amateur competitors assembled for the fifth running of the marquee event.

"We are very Yorkshire proud," Jonathan said. "We did not know how it was going to go, so we made the decision [on the dual finish] on the course."

The short triathlon course began with a 1.5km swim in the glistening Corniche waters, followed by a testing 100km bike ride which took in two laps of Yas Marina Circuit, and a final 10km run back to the finish line in the shadows of the iconic Abu Dhabi city-centre skyline.

Those distances were doubled for the long distance, with the sprint event including a 750m swim, 50km bike ride and 5km run.

In September's ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, a long-term ankle problem saw Alistair drop off the pace as his 23-year-old sibling Jonathan – who took Olympic bronze two years ago – was beaten to first place by Spaniard Javier Gomez.

Alistair showed no sign of injury on Saturday as the brothers emerged from the swim, alongside fellow Brit Rhys Davey, well clear of the chasing pack.

Davey was dropped as they approached Yas Marina Circuit on the bike, with the Brownlees tied together as they re-entered the Corniche for the run.

Alistair had claimed victory in last year's event but, cheered on by supporters enjoying a carnival atmosphere in the fan zone, the brothers shared the spoils in their first race of this season.

In the women's short competition, German Olympian Svenja Bazlen powered to victory ahead of Annabel Luxford and Lisa Marangon.