Jorgensen takes London, and also the World Triathlon Series lead
At the same venue where crashes dashed her Olympic hopes in 2012 and her title hopes last year, U.S. star Gwen Jorgensen kept out of trouble on the first two legs and characteristically crushed the run to win the sprint distance WTS London by a conclusive margin over U.S. rival Sarah Groff and third place finisher Emma Jackson of Australia.
The win was Jorgensen’s 5th career WTS win which puts her equal to WTS win leaders Paula Findlay and Emma Moffatt. It was Jorgensen’s second straight title after a victory at Yokohama two weeks ago and advanced the tall American to the top of the Threadneedle World Triathlon Series standings over early season leader Jodie Stimpson, who finished 11th.
After a 5th-best 8:57 swim, Jorgensen joined a lead pack of 11 women that included fellow Americans Sarah Groff and Katie Hursey as well as Carolina Routier, Lucy Hall, Alice Betto, Nicky Samuels, Aileen Reid and Mari Rabie. The pack arrived in T2 with a 20 seconds lead on the chasers who included dangerous runners Helen Jenkins and Jodie Stimpson of Great Britain and Emma Jackson of Australia.
As customary given the inevitability of her run speed, Jorgensen didn’t hurry her way through transition and carefully worked her way into the lead by the end of the first kilometer. By the end of the first 2.5-kilometer lap, Jorgensen had a 14-seconds lead and barring a bizarre mishap had the victory wrapped up.
Jorgensen cruised to a sizzling-fast 16:10 5k run to finish in 54:44 with a 28 seconds margin over runner-up Groff, who ran a 3rd-fastest 16:39 split.
"It was a hard race out there," said Jorgensen. "These girls were pushing hard today. I had my first podium here in 2011, and every race is different. I had a good swim and I had a little bit of a slow transition, but I just tried to stick with the first group."
"I've always done pretty well here, but it is so nice to finally be on the podium at this race," said Groff, who had finished in the top 7 in her three previous races at the Hyde Park venue.
Emma Jackson, who was stuck in the bike chase group after a sub-par 9:22 swim, made up enough ground with a second-best 16:17 run to take 3rd place, 7 seconds back of Groff. Jackson’s surge to the podium was even more impressive given that she fell in the bike-to-run transition.
Jorgensen’s care in avoiding mistakes seems to have paid off given her out-of-contention Olympic finish due to a flat and her DNF crash at the London Grand Final last year. This season Jorgensen’s poor bike leg at Auckland dropped her to 12th despite a race-best run and she fell to 16th after another poor bike before another killer run advanced her to 3rd place. At Yokohama, Jorgensen had an error-free swim and bike and, as at London, cruised to the win.
Halfway through the WTS season, Jorgensen leads the points chase with 2624, followed by Stimpson (2396), Groff (1959), Helen Jenkins (1926) and Emma Jackson (1679).
London World Triathlon Series
London, Great Britain
May 31, 2014
S 750m / B 19.1 k / R 5k
Elite Women
1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 54:44
2. Sarah Groff (USA) 55:12
3. Emma Jackson (AUS) 55:19
4. Alice Betto (ITA) 55:35
5. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 55:36
6. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 55:39
7. Helen Jenkins (GBR) 55:39
8. Aileen Reid (IRL) 55:40
9. Rebecca Robisch (GER) 55:41
10. Vendula Frintova (CZE) 55:42
11. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 55:43
13. Katie Hursey (USA) 55:49
36. Kaitlin Donner (USA) 57:20
DNF Chelsea Burns (USA)
