Jonny Brownlee has admitted he didn't know whether to accept his brother Alistair's help or push him away as he was carried over the finish line in Mexico.
The Brownlee duo have discussed their moment of brotherly love in a BBC interview for the first time since the clip at the Triathlon World Series event last weekend went viral.
"I remember it all very clearly," Jonny said. "The whole race went very, very well until about 1.5km to go. And then it all kind of fell apart. I remember my legs going a little bit wobbly and thinking: 'I'm not going to make it to the finish line'.
"I remember Alistair coming past me and saying: 'You can make it'. And then my last memory is falling over the finish line and getting carried off. The last 200 metres seemed to take a long long time.
"You're not really thinking straight. I was just thinking: 'I need someone to hold me up'. At one point, I was thinking: 'Thank you Alistair' and half of me was thinking: 'Just leave me alone, let me fall to the floor and I'd get to rest'."
Alistair added: "First I was just thinking: 'What an idiot'. He could have won this race so easily and he's been tactically so ridiculous. It serves him right really.
"I didn't really think too much about what I did. I've been in that position before, in London maybe six years ago. I remember being in second trying to win the race and then waking up and being told I'd come 10th. I was like: 'Why didn't all those people who came past me help me out?'. So I didn't give it a second thought. I just had to help him.
"I turned my phone on this morning and it went a bit mad, buzzing away with tweets and messages from people. It's fantastic. Anything that gives us the chance to talk about triathlon and encourage people to get active is a brilliant thing. But I think both of us are thinking this isn't really what you want to be remembered for because at the end of the day Jonny lost the World Series.
"Sport is a beast with two heads. You have to be the most massively competitive person, but then there is the room to do special things as well. It was literally a spur of the moment decision to do the right thing."
It was just a month ago the brothers became the first siblings to complete a one-two at an Olympics since Italians Piero and Raimondo D'Inzeo in equestrian in 1960 -- as they secured gold and silver medals for Britain.