U.S. women sweep WTS London
Gwensanity is the new normal on the World Triathlon Series women's circuit – the closest thing to a sure thing in an otherwise unpredictable sporting world.
Gwen Jorgensen won her record-extending 10th straight WTS event at London, leading American women Katie Zaferes and Sarah True to their second 1-2-3 finish of the season.
The American women's 1-2-3 podium sweep was the third in ITU women's elite history. Australia’s Emmas – Moffatt, Snowsill and Jackson – claimed the first three spots at the 2011 WTS series stop at Hamburg, Germany. Jorgensen, True and Zaferes finished 1-2-3 at the 2015 WTS Gold Coast event on April 10.
“It is nice to see the American flag flying high today as they played our national anthem,” said Jorgensen. “It still seems weird when people say that. Really all I can do is focus on what I can control every race, and I can't control it if someone beats me one day.”
On a cool and cloudy day in Hyde Park, Jorgensen emerged from the swim in 6th, joined a breakaway pack of seven including fellow Americans Katie Zaferes and Sarah True through the 20 kilometer bike leg. Then the U.S. trio broke away to an immediate 15 seconds lead on the first 2.5 kilometer run lap.
While coping with a mild bout of the flu, Jorgensen waited behind True and Zaferes for a kilometer before unleashing her familiar long stride. Within a few moments, Jorgensen had a 20 meter lead, then 20 seconds as she floated away on a different athletic planet.
Jorgensen finished in 55:45 with a 21 seconds margin on Zaferes, who edged away from Olympic 4th place finisher and 2nd place 2014 WTS series finisher True with 200 meters to go. After Jorgensen’s perfection, Zaferes is the next best bet as she has made the podium in all five of her WTS starts – 2nd at Abu Dhabi, 2nd at Auckland, 3rd at Gold Coast, 2nd at Cape Town and 2nd at London.
“I am really happy with my consistency,” said Zaferes. “I was on a roll, then and then I took a break, so coming into this race I was like, ah, I don't know [what will happen]. But I'm really happy I pulled it off again.”
“We have a little bit of American steamroller action going on, but you know, every federation has its ebbs and flows,” said True. “The British have been on top of the world, the Aussies, we all have our moments. Right now it is a pretty exciting moment for the U.S.”
Jorgensen’s 5k run split was 16:00, 32 seconds better than Zaferes, 33 seconds better than True and 26 seconds better than the next best women's effort by Aileen Reid of Ireland, who finished 4th.
In a sign of their recent dominance, U.S. women now stand 1-2-4-9 and 21st in the World Triathlon Series 2015 standings after 6 events. Jorgensen leads with a perfect 4,000 points in 5 starts. Zaferes is 2nd with 3645 points, True is 4th with 2632 points, Lindsey Jerdonek is 9th with 1387 and Renee Tomlin is 21st with 1063.
WTS London
London, England
May 31, 2015
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Results
Women
1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 55:45
2. Katie Zaferes (USA) 56:06
3. Sarah True (USA) 56:07
4. Aileen Reid (IRL) 56:25
5. Vicky Holland (GBR) 56:28
6. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 56:31
7. Barbara Riveros (CHL) 56:32
8. Paula Findlay (CAN) 56:32
9. Amelie Kretz (CAN) 56:33
10. Sophia Saller (GER) 56:33
51. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 59:15
55. Kaitlin Donner (USA) 1:00:04
60. Chelsea Burns (USA) 1:01:15
