Defending World Champion Gwen Jorgensen used an improved swim and bike to add an extra margin to her dominant run and win her 9th straight WTS race at Yokohama.

Showing off her new skills in the first two triathlon disciplines, Jorgensen emerged from the swim 6th, just 6 seconds off swim leader Summer Cook of the U.S. While she kept in the top 3 throughout the bike leg, Jorgensen let off the gas coming into T2 in 24th, just 11 seconds off the leader.

Not to worry.

Jorgensen then unleashed her smooth long strides and took over the lead at 700 meters into the 10k run. She finished with a race-best 32:36 run which was 1:19 better than the next-best effort by runner-up Ashleigh Gentle of Australia and 1:45 better than 3rd place finisher and fellow Australian Emma Moffatt.

While her fluid strides made it look easy, Jorgensen said it didn’t feel that way. “The whole race hurt a lot,” said Jorgensen. “I get real nervous every race. It rained and made it sketchy on the bike so you have to be careful.”

While she didn't face much resistance from her rivals on this day, Jorgensen said she wanted to test herself for coming races.

“I came in here knowing that this is the last 10k before the Rio test event, because there are only sprint races until then. I really wanted to get a good 10k in and push myself, and try to go hard,” Jorgensen told ITU Media after the race.

In a personal breakthrough, Gentle scored her first WTS podium in finishing second, 1:13 behind Jorgensen.

“I am really happy,” said Gentle. “This is a huge confidence booster. My first WTS race I got 9th in London. So it was worth the wait and the hard work. I felt really comfortable all day.”

Then came fellow Australian Moffatt, 30 seconds after her countrywoman. Moffatt stayed one ahead of Jorgensen on the list of most podiums in WTS women's history.

“This was my first podium since London in 2013,” said Moffatt. “It has definitely been a long time. The first two laps of the run were ordinary then I built into it at 5k and my legs seemed to come back into form.”

Moffatt said it felt good to be back in form after a tough 2014 plagued with illness and injury. “Last year wasn’t the greatest,” said Moffatt. “Getting back to health feels great and gives me more confidence.”

Rising U.S. star Renee Tomlin, one week after her maiden ITU World Cup victory at Chengdu, used her run legs with a 4th-fastest 34:36 run to post a personal breakthrough 4th place WTS finish, 10 seconds after Moffatt.

With fellow American and series points leader Katie Zaferes taking the week off, Jorgensen also re-took the lead in the 2015 Threadneedle WTS series points lead with a perfect-for-4-races 3,200 points. Despite her week off, Katie Zaferes of the U.S. was 2nd with 2905 points and Andrea Hewitt, on the strength of her 8th place finish at Yokohama, now stands 3rd in the rankings with 2368 points. Sarah True of the U.S., idle this week, stands 4th with 1947 points and Emma Moffatt is 5th with 1710 points.

Swim

Summer Cook of the U.S. led the swim in 19:02, leading a pack of 14 who broke off a 20 seconds lead on a pack of 35 chasers.

Joining Cook in the lead pack were Carolina Routier of Spain, Yuka Sato of Japan, Gaia Peron of Italy, Emma Moffatt of Australia, Gwen Jorgensen of the U.S., as well as Claudia Rivas of Mexico, Sara Vilic of Austria, Line Thams of Denmark, Kirsten Kasper of the U.S. and Ainhoa Murua of Spain who was 16 seconds back.

Dangerous threats in the second pack were Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand (+46s), Paula Findlay of Canada (+49s), Aileen Reid of Ireland (+52s) and, back after losing a year to injuries after her 2013 WTS World Championship, Non Stanford of Great Britain (+54s). Unfortunately, Stanford incurred a 15 seconds penalty for an infraction in T1, likely due to a bad housekeeping in transition.

Lurking in 32nd, 1:06 back, was U.S. newcomer Renee Tomlin, next to U.S. teammate Chelsea Burns, and 2013 title contender Anne Haug of Germany was hanging in 35th. Jessica Broderick of the U.S. was 48th (+1:13), Kaitlin Donner of the U.S. 50th (+1:14), Emma Jackson of Australia 51st (+1:14), and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Lisa Norden of Sweden (+1:25).

Bike

In constant rain and slick roads, the riders played their cards conservatively. By Lap 7 of 8, the lead pack numbered 34. Showing she has now mastered all 3 disciplines, Jorgensen stayed in the front all day. Showing good form after a long layoff, Stanford rode with Jorgensen and looks to be back on her 2013 form. With no breakaways, strong runners lurked close to the front. Threats for the podium included Emma Moffatt 6th, Aileen Reid 7th, Barbara Riveros 8th, Ashleigh Gentle 9th, Anne Haug 13th, and Paula Findlay 27th.

Run

Starting the run., Charlotte McShane of Australia took the early lead, followed closely by Vendula Frintova of the Czech Republic, Lisa Perterer of Austria, Gillian Sanders of South Africa, then Hewitt.

At 700 meters, Jorgensen breezed into the lead, with Tomlin sticking close to see how long she might last in Jorgensen's wake.

After riding into T2 more than 2 minutes back, Lisa Norden pulled out.

By the end of the first lap of the run, Jorgensen restored the usual order, 10 seconds ahead of Gentle, 11 over Hewitt, 12 over Tomlin, and 16 better than Moffatt, Stanford and Frintova.

Near the end of Lap 2, Gentle broke away from the rest of the chasers, 17 seconds behind Jorgensen. Moffatt moved up to 3rd, with Stanford, Tomlin and Hewitt 4th, 5th 6th at 39 seconds back.

WTS Yokohama
Yokohama, Japan
May 16, 2015
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Women

1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 1:57:20
2. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 1:58:33
3. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1:59:03
4. Renee Tomlin (USA) 1:59:13
5. Gillian Sanders (RSA) 1:59:19
6. Aileen Reid (IRL) 1:59:22
7. Non Stanford (GBR) 1:59:22
8. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 1:59:23
9. Kristen Kasper (USA) 1:59:24
10. Barbara Riveros (CHL) 1:59:26
17. Erin Jones (USA) 2:00:12
18. Chelsea Burns (USA) 2:00:15
42. Summer Cook (USA) 2:04:28
45. Erin Dolan (USA) 2:05:09