Jorgensen is well aware that she has a target on her back.
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It was also a long overdue gold for the country that invented the sport after the United States had previously managed only Susan Williams’ bronze in 2004 since it joined the Olympic party in 2000.
After crossing the finish line, she reached down and grabbed the green, gold and blue ribbon and held it high above her head in triumph before breaking down in tears. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Jorgensen finished first in the women’s triathlon, winning the first gold medal in a triathlon for the U.S. Her time was 1:56:16.
So, too, the way it all unfolded.
And her emotion at the end was testimony to that commitment.
If competitors were looking for an opening, here it was.
“That was Nicola’s idea”, said Gwen Jorgensen of the US, who won the gold. “She’s about the same tenure in the sport that Gwen was in London”.
South Africa’s Marie Rabie had the best transition and hit the run leg first.
After the second lap, True led the chase pack 25 seconds down. After the sixth of the eight laps, she was in the lead.
Spirig, the defending Olympic champion, spoke up and played her trump card from four years ago. But Spirig made her work for it like few before during Jorgensen’s dominant run the last two years. But they were both races that Jorgensen skipped.
On the first of four laps, Jorgensen darted to the lead.
“There was some mental games, because I know she is a remarkable runner so I had to try everything to get her off of the rhythm somehow”, Spirig said. “You have to open up a gap in the swim and the bike”.
Given her running speed, the formula for defeating Jorgensen seems simple, although it is easier said than done.
Get top stories and blog posts emailed to me each day. “So, we were just saying, ‘You lead, I led, ‘” Jorgensen recounted.
As she neared the finish line, Jorgensen broken into a big smile.
She had suffered a puncture on the bike leg in London four years ago and finished 38th. “I’m just really thankful that I’ve had those people to believe in me throughout the way and encourage me along the way, because without them I wouldn’t be doing triathlon”.
Spirig, the London 2012 Olympic Champion, took silver. Success since makes her a frontrunner in Rio. She thought about husband Pat Lemieux, a former pro cyclist who is now Jorgensen’s manager and much more, and of Jamie Turner, her coach since 2013 when she moved to train with a group in Australia.
A Fargo family is celebrating after one of their own won Olympic gold in Rio today.
For Jorgensen, though, there was no other option.
“It’s going to come down to taking some risks”, True said.
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And now it is done, her all-consuming goal accomplished. “So, I was happy to hang with that group when there were times when I was definitely off the back”, Zaferes said.
