Gwen Jorgensen may have been down during Saturday’s big World Triathlon Cup Miyazaki showdown in Japan, but she was NEVER EVER out.
The US Olympic triathlon champion produced a sensational performance over the Sprint distance to rise from the ground following a fall in T2 and surge through the field for a brilliant victory.
The 38-year-old superstar, gold medallist in Rio in 2016, had agonisingly missed out on a place on the US team for Paris 2024, and to add to the misery she then broke her collarbone in a bike crash in late July.
Now though the US star is very much back in the game, and she proved it here with a never-say-die performance which brought her the top step on the podium for the first time since February in La Habana.
Jorgensen was ninth out of the water in Japan, but only four seconds off the pace set by Hungary’s Marta Kropko. Right behind Kropko were Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen, another US star in the shape of Erika Ackerlund, Ireland’s Erin McConnell and eventual runner-up, Switzerland’s Alissa Konig.
The bike leg saw Gwen continue the fight to remain with the front pack, and heading into T2 she seemed primed to unleash that acclaimed run prowess. Until that is, disaster struck.
As the leaders arrived in transition, first we had McConnell hitting the deck as she dismounted, and seconds later Jorgensen was also on the blue carpet after what she later described as a collision with another athlete racking her bike.
The net result for Jorgensen was 16th position as she exited transition, some 15 seconds off the pace now set by Great Britain’s Jessica Fullagar.
Up front the leaders splintered quickly and it was Konig leading a front pack of five, accompanied by Fullagar, Vermeylen, home favourite Yuko Takahashi and Britain’s Sian Rainsley. But behind them, Jorgensen was starting to really hit top gear and thundering ever closer.
At the halfway stage of the 5k run it was recent Tongyeong victor Vermeylen leading Konig with a gap now of a couple of seconds to Takahashi and Rainsley and then another small gap to Fullagar. Jorgensen meanwhile was up to sixth having cut the gap to 11 seconds with 2.5k remaining. Could she seal the deal with an epic run to the tape? We were about to find out.
On to the final lap of the run and Konig took control at the front, gapping Vermeylen. All the while though, Jorgensen was weaving her way through the field – now up to a clear third but with her eyes on the win.
Next up Gwen steamed past Vermeylen, and the only remaining question was whether she could catch Konig, and it was still very much in the balance deep into the final kilometre as Jorgensen pushed ever harder.
Onto the blue carpet and Konig still had the edge but Gwen would not be denied and she gave it everything in a lung-bursting sprint to the line which saw her make the catch and pass in the dying strides to win by literally a couple of seconds. Vermeylen would hang on to claim the final podium spot ahead of Rainsley and Takahashi.
Speaking afterwards Jorgensen summed up her day, and the fighting spirit she had summoned to claim a famous victory.
“I feel like I made this race harder than it needed to be, but the theme was just not to give up, and I just kept telling myself to race. I’m not sure what happened in T2, I went into someone as they racked their bike and fell.
“At one point I thought a podium was enough but then I thought, ‘Gwen, stop. Race, give your best’. Alissa really made me work for it and sprinted early… but I kept in it and gave my all. A lot of things happened today so I’m really proud I never gave up.” 


Saturday November 9, 2024 – Miyazaki, Japan
Elite Women – 750m swim / 20km bike / 5km run
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