Gwen Jorgensen thought she was “totally out” of the race. Instead, the 40-year-old American was running towards her first podium at triathlon’s top-tier series in more than a decade.
The Rio Olympic champion produced the fastest run of the day to claim bronze at WTCS Abu Dhabi on Friday, finishing behind Diana Isakova and Jeanne Lehair after a superb charge through the field.
But even as she moved into the medals, Jorgensen needed a little help to realise just how well her race was going.
‘Really, I’m in third?’
Asked afterwards on the live broadcast whether she had been counting the days since her previous podium, Jorgensen made it clear that the milestone had been far from her mind.
“No, I was not counting at all,” she said. “But you know, I actually thought I was totally out of this race. And then Parker [Spencer], one of the USAT coaches, was like, ‘You’re third.’
“And I put up three fingers. I was like, ‘Really, I’m in third?’ Like, I had no idea. So yeah, pretty special day.”
It was a wonderfully understated reaction to a performance which brought her back onto a podium at this level for the first time since the Cozumel Grand Final in September 2016.
And it came from the oldest woman in the Abu Dhabi field.
Fastest run delivers bronze
There had been plenty of ground to make up after a demanding swim and bike in windy conditions.
Jorgensen completed the swim in 10:39 and missed the nine-athlete lead group which formed on the bike. By the time she reached the end of the 19.1km ride, she was 36 seconds behind the leader.
The exposed, two-lap 5.08km run gave her a chance to work her way back into contention, but even at halfway she was eighth, still 36 seconds behind Isakova.
Her second lap transformed the race for bronze.
While Isakova and Lehair fought out the victory ahead, Jorgensen surged through the field to finish third in 56:23, 28 seconds behind the winner and six seconds clear of fourth-placed Laura Lindemann.
Her 16:26 run was the fastest of the race, eight seconds quicker than world number one Lisa Tertsch and 11 seconds faster than the identical splits recorded by Isakova and Lehair.
Asked whether she had believed a podium was possible, Jorgensen explained that her focus had been rather more immediate.
“I was really just trying to stay in the moment and I was just so thankful this was a hot race, not cold like Beijing,” she said.
“Just excited to come out here. Really thankful that we had this opportunity [the race was rescheduled after being postponed early in the year].”
From Rio and Cozumel to Abu Dhabi
And writing later on Instagram, Jorgensen added: “Old lady’s still got it 👵🥉
“It’s been over 3000 days since I was last on a WTCS podium.
“A lot has happened in those 3000 days, so this one feels pretty special.
“Thank you to everyone who keeps believing 💫”
The last time Jorgensen had stood on a podium at this level, she was still only weeks into life as an Olympic champion.
She won gold in Rio on August 20, 2016, before finishing second at the Cozumel Grand Final on September 17 – just 28 days later.
The winner that day was Flora Duffy, who finished 1:17 ahead of Jorgensen. In a neat connection, the Bermudian would go on to succeed her as Olympic champion in Tokyo.
More than 10 years later, Jorgensen was back in the medals in Abu Dhabi, on the final WTCS race weekend before the sport moves to the Triathlon World Tour in 2027.
