Jorgensen and Spirig broke clear of the pack on the early stages of the run, before Jorgensen, the 2014 and 2015 world champion, moved out on her own to win in a time of one hour 56 minutes 16 seconds.
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She finished 38th in the women’s triathlon due to a flat tire during the biking portion of the competition.
Vicky Holland outsprinted British teammate Non Stanford for the bronze.
“No one wanted to lead, ” Spirig said.
For the first three laps in the 10-kilometer race, Spirig tried to hang on Jorgensen’s right shoulder for protection from the headwinds.
As she neared the finish line, Jorgensen broken into a big smile.
“I don’t think you ever expect someone to be the best in the world at anything, but obviously it’s been a great surprise”, said coach Eric Lehmann.
“I’ve been pretty vocal about my goal for the past four years”.
Jorgensen didn’t lead all the way, but she pulled ahead late for what turned out to be a win that looked easy.
“I didn’t know at all, I had to change everything”, she told NZ Newswire. He’s given up his career to support me. I’m just really happy after everything we’ve done after this past four years. “To be able to actually execute on the day is pretty incredible”.
Spirig’s silver was won on the bike leg, with a tactic that fourth-place finisher Non Stanford called clever.
Jorgensen’s road to worldwide stardom wasn’t the path she had set out for herself when she was a swimming and track star at Waukesha South High School, and then the University of Wisconsin. It was Barb Lindquist, who was running USA Triathlon’s college recruitment program. By the run, she did not have much left.
It was also a long overdue gold for the country that invented the sport after the United States had previously managed only Susan Williams’s bronze in 2004 since it joined the Olympic party in 2000.
Get top stories and blog posts emailed to me each day. The victory caps what has been arguably the most dominant stretch in triathlon history by Jorgensen, who has won all but two individual races since April 2014.
Both Kiwis will contest the two remaining world series races, in Canada and Mexico, this year.
“Nicola and I were playing a few games”. Neither wanted to lead. I said, “Come on, Gwen”, but she said, ‘I was leading before’.
Finally, Spirig acquiesced to the inevitable.
Gwen Jorgensen was touted as the woman to beat in Saturday morning’s triathlon along Rio’s Copacabana beach.
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Just 30, Jorgensen would be the favourite in Tokyo in 2020, too.
