The Olympic title is particularly sweet for Jorgensen, who upended her entire life after a flat tire resulted in a disappointing 38th-place finish in London.
Advertisement
Vicky Holland of Great Britain (1:57:01) took the bronze medal. Jorgensen is the second Badger athlete to strike gold in the 2016 Olympics after swimmer Cierra Runge claimed first place on August 10 as a member of Team USA’s 800-meter freestyle relay. “I never think you have a ideal race, it was a fun race for sure”, said Jorgensen. Alistair passed his brother toward the finish line and won the gold, making him a back-to-back Olympics triathlon gold medalist.
The 34-year-old Spirig had fought to get to the start on Copacabana Beach after a bike crash in early March. “She was playing a bit of a game, I was playing a little bit”.
“I’ve been pretty vocal about my goal for the past four years”.
Spirig’s silver was won on the bike leg, with a tactic that fourth-place finisher Non Stanford called clever.
But against Jorgensen, this was never going to be a two-horse triathlon war she could win. Throughout the course, Spirig could be seen speaking to the women behind her several times, appearing to ask them to step and pull, though was rarely successful. Jorgensen refused the offer, but the Swiss star continued the verbal barrage.
“If I’m honest, I think that probably negated the chances we had”, said the British triathlete.
When she crossed the finish line Saturday, Jorgensen burst into tears. “She did – and that was totally valid”.
Triathletes, including Australia’s Emma Moffatt, hit the surf.
“I knew that I needed to be in a daily performance group where I was training basically with my direct competitors”, said Jorgensen. “There was nothing that was going to stop her these last four years”, Lemieux said.
On Thursday, brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain raced for the gold medal. Four years comes down to one day.
Jorgensen was drafting with Spirig for the entire run after they dismounted their bikes together but after smiling at Spirig with about two kilometers left, Jorgensen made her breakaway and wouldn’t be challenged. “So, we have her to thank”.
Advertisement
“The first thing I said to her was “I’m so sorry”, Holland said of her rival”. “How I feel now, it doesn’t matter, I got through it”. I am just so happy for her.
