Gwen Jorgensen Wins Chicago Triathlon To Take World Title
CHICAGO (AP) — Gwen Jorgensen won the ITU World Triathlon Series' Grand Final on Friday for her second straight season championship.
Jorgensen, from St. Paul, Minnesota, has won 12 straight events. She finished the 1,500-meter swim in Lake Michigan, 40-kilometer bike ride and 10-kilometer run in 1 hour, 55 minutes, 36 seconds, rallying from 17th after the bike leg.
"I wasn't in a great position, I just tried to remain focused," Jorgensen said. "I'd say at the bike I wasn't in the best position either, I was kind of off the back."
Britain's Non Stanford was second in 1:56:05, followed by countrywoman Vicky Holland in 1:56:20.
"She puts in a surge and leaves us for dead," Holland said.
Jorgensen's took the season title with 5,200 points, well ahead of New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt at 4,081 points. Hewitt was fourth Friday.
"When you look at the past season I think it's pretty nuts," Jorgensen said. "It's something I never would have imagined, that I've been able to perform on so many different courses, feeling different: good, bad, sick, healthy. It's just been incredible."
Sarah True of Hanover, New Hampshire was third in the season standings after finishing seventh Friday.
Jorgensen also won the ITU World Olympic qualification event in Rio de Janeiro last month to make the 2016 U.S. Olympic team. True also has qualified for Rio.
Jorgensen competed in the 2012 Olympics in London, finishing 38th after having a flat tire during the bike ride. She last lost in a triathlon in April of 2014.
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