Her last top-level individual triathlon loss was April 26, 2014.
Advertisement
She finished 1m 8s behind Jorgensen in a race brought forward four hours due to forecast thunderstorms. Her transition was smooth, and she was part of a pack of 29 cyclists who stayed in the front throughout the race.
A Grand Final win would further extend Jorgensen’s remarkable, record-breaking run.
Jorgensen was in the lead group after the 1500m swim and the 40km cycle race, pulling away for the victory in the late stages of the 10km run.
“It’s insane to think about the season I’ve had”, Jorgensen said Wednesday. When I made the move, it just felt right.
Jorgensen can take a second straight world title and $85,000 prize bonus by finishing fourth or higher Friday.
Hewitt has claimed the overall silver medal in the world championship series after finishing fourth at the grand final in Chicago. Her competitors know that she is capable of winning the race even after faltering in the earlier legs. “I didn’t know what was going to happen”. “This was the sort of course that will sap your legs”. “I figured I would play a little bit, end up at law school, and my dabbling in triathlon would be over”.
Another American triathlete, Sarah True, was third in the season standings after finishing seventh on Friday. The finish was good enough to put her in third place overall in the WTS.
Stanford and Holland finished behind American Gwen Jorgensen and have now fulfilled qualification criteria for next summer, although they are yet to be officially selected for Rio. “Last year [in Chicago] I came off the bike nearly a minute or more off the leaders, so I had that gap to close and I really used the crowd and the people there to motivate me and get me across the finish line”.
Hewitt denied American Katie Zaferes a place on the podium.
“Bailie has been very consistent all season and he’s had three top tens and two of those have been top-five finishes”, Australia’s performance director Bernard Savage said.
Advertisement
In Rio, Jorgensen, True and perhaps Zaferes will look to join Susan Williams, who took bronze at Athens 2004, as U.S. Olympic triathlon medalists.
