Gwen Jorgensen‘s season is over but the 2016 Olympic champion says she wants “to have another three good years”.
That will come as fantastic news to her legion of fans, plenty of them new ones since she made a shock comeback to the sport in 2023.
The American star had to fly around the globe in that first year to try and get race starts and boost her ranking but she’s shot up the standings since then and moved into the top 10 earlier this season.
She started the campaign in fine style with a win in the Americas Triathlon Cup Miami and then a fourth place at WTCS Yokohama in mid-May.
That had her targeting a first WTCS podium since her return but a puncture scuppered her hopes at WTCS Alghero later in May and then she wasn’t able to get in contention at WTCS Hamburg in July.
Her performance in Germany was affected by pain from Haglund’s deformity – a bony enlargement on the back of the heel bone where the Achilles tendon attaches.
So she elected to have surgery to resolve that and her latest video update, which is embedded below, suggests that was a complete success.
Not ready to retire
The recovery has gone well too but typically takes months rather than weeks and she confirmed her 2025 racing season is done, saying: “I know it’s over.”
But it’s clear that her appetite to continue in the sport is undimmed and she explained: “I knew for me to perform at the highesst level I can’t compromise or compensate.
“I could easily have finished out the season and then be done and get the surgery and move on with my life.
“But I’m not ready to do that and [this season] has showed me I can be in the mix.
“I want to have another three good years.”
‘We caught it early’
The 39-year-old added: “We caught it early and my tendon is in good shape.
“I felt this season that I actually proved that ‘yes’ I can be in the mix.
“That’s exciting but the surgery sucks and I’m miserable but it also really showed me my focus.”
Jorgensen’s “another three good years” line is fascinating too as that would take her through to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in her home country.
The big initial target of her comeback was to make the US team for the Paris Olympics, especially as she’s never raced a Mixed Relay at the Games, and this decision potentially gives her another chance.
