Gwen Jorgensen blasted her way back from 36th place and a 1:04 deficit after the bike with a dominating run to win the opening round of the 2015 World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi by 60 meters over fellow American Katie Zaferes.

Jorgensen finished the sprint distance event in 58 minutes and 58 seconds with a 16 seconds margin over Zaferes and 23 seconds ahead of 3rd place finisher Flora Duffy of Bermuda.

Jorgensen overcame a mediocre swim that left her 36th and 35 seconds down to the leaders and a holding-in-place bike leg with a sizzling 15:58 5k run that was 56 seconds better than the effort by runner-up Zaferes.

“It was a hot, hard race,” said Jorgensen, who reeled in the leaders with a typically devastating run. “I was way beyond my expectations today. I have had good run sessions but didn't know I was running that well.”

Jorgensen’s victory was her 6th straight in the prestigious WTS series, a dominance calling to mind the 12 straight World Cup wins and 21 World Cup career victories by Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes a decade ago.

While Jorgensen’s win was no surprise, the runner-up and 3rd place finishers were. Zaferes and third-place finisher Flora Duffy of Bermuda scored their very first WTS podiums thanks to their stellar work in a 5-women bike breakaway that put 25 seconds on a first chase pack of 7 women and roughly a minute on a larger third group that included Barbara Riveros, Emma Moffatt and Jorgensen.

Duffy, the current XTERRA World Champion and 2012 Olympian, charged into the lead on the first lap of the run but was run down by the Jorgensen Express just after the halfway point. After that, Zaferes slowly reeled the Bermudan in to take the silver. Zaferes finished with a 16:54 run

“I am so excited,” said Zaferes, who had a strong start last season but lost a lot of momentum after suffering an injury in a bike crash mid-season. “It was pretty nerve wracking before this race. Making a WTS podium has been my goal since I started triathlon. I am pretty stoked.”

Duffy was equally thrilled. “I can’t believe it,” said the Bermudan. “I had the race of my life today. This bike course was pretty technical and I like that. So we (Duffy, Lisa Norden, Zaferes Lindsey Jerdonek and Lucy Hall) pushed hard and put a few bike lengths on the chase pack and got away.” Duffy ran 17:24, good enough to hold off surging runners Barbara Riveros of Chile. who finished 4th, and Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand, who finished 5th.

U.S. women had a banner day as rising star Lindsey Jerdonek finished 6th, 2014 WTS Series runner-up Sarah True was 9th and Kaitlin Donner was 10th.

Abu Dhabi World Triathlon Series
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
March 7, 2015
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k

Results

Elite Women

1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 58:58
2. Katie Zaferes (USA) 59:14
3. Flora Duffy (BER) 59:21
4. Barbara Riveros (CHL) 59:36
5. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 59:37
6. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 59:39
7. Charlotte McShane (AUS) 59:43
8. Yuka Sato (JPN) 59:46
9. Sarah True (USA) 59:50
10. Kaitlin Donner (USA) 59:52
16. Anne Haug (GER) 1:00:05
17. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 1:00:09
21. Lisa Norden (SWE) 1:00:16
23. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1:00:31
29. Erin Jones (USA) 1:00:46