Big Gwen Repeats in Hamburg

HAMBURG, Germany — American Gwen Jorgensen again reached historic heights on Saturday, winning ITU World Triathlon Hamburg for her seventh career ITU World Triathlon Series victory and her fourth consecutive win this season.

Jorgensen (St. Paul, Minn.) clinched her win on the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, 5-kilometer run course with a finish time of 56 minutes, 54 seconds. Her trademark run speed led her to a 15:46 5k run split to finish ahead of Australia’s Emma Jackson, who was second in 57:00, and Canadian Kirsten Sweetland, who also logged a time of 57:00 to finish third.

The United States was the only nation to have four women finish in the top 17. Lindsey Jerdonek (Sagamore Hills, Ohio) posted her best career World Triathlon Series result with 14th place, followed closely by Sarah Groff (Hanover, N.H.) in 15th and Kaitlin Donner (Satellite Beach, Fla.) in 17th. Tamara Gorman (Rapid City, S.D.), the 2013 ITU junior world champion, finished 29th in her World Triathlon Series debut.

Groff, Gorman and Jorgensen exited the water within three seconds of Italian Alice Betto, who led the way into the first transition. A large group formed over the six-lap bike course, with more than 30 women heading out on to the run within seconds of each other. Jorgensen quickly moved through the group to make her way to the front, where Jackson, Sweetland, Great Britain’s Jodie Stimpson, Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand and Italian Annamaria Mazzetti were leading the charge. On the second of two run laps, Jorgensen inched her way into the lead, holding off Jackson and Sweetland into the finish chute.

“It was really hard out there,” Jorgensen said after the race. “I didn’t have a great position on the bike and the run was really hard, too. Those girls really made me work. They were really coming for me at the end. I just gave it everything I had.”

Jorgensen maintains her No. 1 ranking in the Threadneedle ITU World Triathlon Series rankings with 3,885 points. Stimpson is second with 2,982 points, and Great Britain’s Helen Jenkins has 2,666 points for third. Groff is still ranked in the world’s top five with 2,228 points. Complete rankings are available at triathlon.org.

In the men’s race, Alistair Brownlee, the London 2012 Olympic Games champion from Great Britain, claimed his first World Triathlon Series win of the 2014 season in a sprint to the finish. A. Brownlee clocked in at 51:43, ahead of Vincent Luis of France, who hung with the lead group over the 5k run to finish second in 51:45. Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain was third in 51:48. Eric Lagerstrom (Gresham, Ore.), the lone American in the men’s race, finished 46th.

Action in Hamburg continues tomorrow with the ITU Mixed Relay World Championships. The U.S. earned their first podium finish last year, finishing third behind Germany and New Zealand. The relay begins at 10:25 a.m. ET and will be shown live on triathlonlive.tv.

Only two ITU World Triathlon Series stops remain on the 2014 schedule; Stockholm on Aug. 23-24, and the series Grand Final in Edmonton on Aug. 26-Sept. 1.

ITU World Triathlon Hamburg
750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run

Women —  Click here for complete results

1. Gwen Jorgensen (St. Paul, Minn.), 56:54
2. Emma Jackson (AUS), 57:00
3. Kirsten Sweetland (CAN), 57:00
14. Lindsey Jerdonek (Sagamore Hills, Ohio), 57:56
15. Sarah Groff (Hanover, N.H.), 58:02
17. Kaitlin Donner (Satellite Beach, Fla.), 58:04
29. Tamara Gorman (Rapid City, S.D.), 59:11
DNF Erin Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.)