There was no escape route, no contingency plan. Success since makes her a frontrunner in Rio. No matter what happened over the next two hours, she had to cross the finish line first.
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Barbara Riveros of Chile took 5th, 1:13 behind the victor and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Emma Moffatt of Australia was 6th, 26 back of Riveros.
“Silver or bronze was an absolute failure in her eyes”, said her husband, Patrick Lemieux.
“That’s the most unbelievable thing because she was very clear”.
As she departed, Holland was asked whether she would be putting the medal up in the house they share together. “On the most important day and the most important stage, Gwen did it today”. Gwen Jorgensen, 30, officially became the first US woman to take home the gold medal in the triathlon on August 20! She also posted the highest finish ever for a South American triathlete at the Olympics.
It was the culmination of a very focused four-year journey for Jorgensen, who is the star of USA Triathlon’s Collegiate Recruitment Program. But I also know she is so strong and she will be back in four years’ time. “After London, I said I wanted to go to Rio and I wanted to win gold”, Jorgensen said. “It’s pretty incredible that I was actually able to do it”.
Jorgensen’s victory is both historic and special after finishing 38 in the London Games after a flat tire in the biking portion of the race. She had moved to 10th by the second lap, as a lead pack of about 18 athletes separated themselves from the rest of the field.
The 30-year-old has been the dominant force on the International Triathlon Union scene for years, winning the last two world titles easily, and she ran the ideal race on Saturday, staying with Spirig until the final sequence and then finishing solo.
“There will be times where we are in a bike pack, and you realize that some people are like, ‘Gwen’s here, let’s give up, ‘” said fellow USA triathlete Sarah True said.
Sarah True, who finished fourth in London and fourth in the test event had a heart-breaking end to her Olympic race, she came off the bike and after re-starting her race not once but twice, earning huge cheers from the crowd on the bike course, was forced to withdraw.
Traditionally gaps between groups of contenders open in the swim and it’s said that triathlons, although not won in the swim, are often lost there. After the first lap I was about 15th then gradually caught up.
“She was leading first and then she left me in front and I was leading in the headwind”, the Swiss said. “We have one medal in the home now and we can put it on display”. But after a slight exchange of words at the beginning of the last lap – “Neither one of us wanted to lead”, Jorgensen said.
Spirig was telling Jorgensen that if she was going to win, she was going to have to work for it. Jorgensen smiled, gritted her teeth, passed Spirig and quickly started putting distance between them.
“I knew that I needed to be in a daily performance group where I was training basically with my direct competitors”, said Jorgensen. And so it proved as Jorgensen powered clear to win in 1:56.16, 40 seconds clear of Spirig, who took silver, leaving Holland and Stanford duking it out for bronze. “I think maybe that would have hurt Gwen more”.
True crashed around the 47:00 mark and although she got back on her bike, clearly struggled with a leg injury from her fall and retired from the race.
Zaferes finished second in the 1.5-km swimming segment, with a time of 19.03.
The Swiss, now 34, won gold at the London Games in a photo finish and then disappeared from top-level global Olympic distance races before taking silver behind Jorgensen on Saturday. She recorded the fastest run leg in all seven of her World Triathlon Series races in 2015.
That’s when she entered the Spirig-driven torture chamber. “I would have never thought that I’d be in this position that I’m in right now”.
According to Spirig, she was getting just as fed up with Jorgensen’s tactics as it appeared to spectators. I knew they were going to try to break away from me. I tried everything to get her out of her rhythm and make it hard for her.
Just 30, Jorgensen would be the favorite in Tokyo in 2020, too.
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“Fair enough”, Jorgensen said after sprinting away for the gold.
