2012 Olympic Qualifier Builds on London Showing
USA Triathlon
August 14, 2011 (Tiszaujvaros, Hungary) – Just one week after earning a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team, Gwen Jorgensen followed a breakthrough performance in London with her first career World Cup victory at the Tiszaujvaros ITU Triathlon World Cup on Sunday.
Jorgensen (Milwaukee, Wis.) used the day’s fastest run split to make up a 70-second deficit off the bike and break the tape in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 54 seconds in the Olympic-distance event.
Annamaria Mazzetti of Italy was second in 2:00:02, followed by third-place finisher Irina Abysova of Russia in 2:00:18.
As she did en route to silver at last weekend’s London ITU World Championship Series stop, Jorgensen made her move on the run. After moving up 27 spots to sixth place on the first lap of the run, Jorgensen steadily closed on the leaders before passing Mazzetti on the final lap to earn gold. Jorgensen’s 33:49 10k split was 42 seconds faster than any other woman.
Jorgensen spent the bike leg in the chase pack after narrowly missing the leaders out of the water. “I think I was the first one that didn’t make that front pack. We were all trying to work to get up there, but we had a lot of strong cyclists in that first group and we just weren’t able to bridge up,” Jorgensen said. “I knew we were losing time and there’s just so many talented girls out there, I was just trying to give it my best.”
But despite heading out on the run more than a minute off the pace, the former University of Wisconsin All-American picked up at least 15 seconds per lap on the leaders to earn her first career ITU victory and her 11th top-five finish in 16 career ITU events.
Jorgensen’s win marks the third ITU World Cup victory for an American this season. Hunter Kemper (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Sarah Haskins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won in Ishigaki, Japan, and Monterrey, Mexico, respectively, earlier this year.
Next up for Jorgensen is the ITU Elite Sprint Triathlon World Championships, also a part of the 2011 ITU World Championship Series, and the ITU Team Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, next weekend.
Tiszaujvaros ITU World Cup
(1,500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run)
Women
1. Gwen Jorgensen (Milwaukee, Wis.), 1:59:54
2. Annamaria Mazzetti (ITA), 2:00:02
3. Irina Abysova (RUS), 2:00:18
54. Amanda Hahn (Boulder, Colo.), 2:09:16
Men
1. Brent McMahon (CAN), 1:48:16
2. Aaron Harris (GBR), 1:48:22
3. Akos Vanek (HUN), 1:48:43
53. Barrett Brandon (Fort Worth, Texas), 1:54:59
57. Manuel Huerta (Miami, Fla.), 1:57:02
