A big medal haul of 11 on Saturday including five more golds, including a surprising track win, brought the US to 114 total, their best Olympics since Los Angeles in 1984 (174) and third all time behind 1904 St. Louis as well (239). Those two Olympics are very unique and will probably never be surpassed so the US total in Rio is noteworthy. The 43 golds the US has in Rio are within striking distance of Beijing’s 46 for second most all-time behind 1984 and 1904. The US should take gold in men’s basketball and women’s boxing on Sunday but the question is if they can find one more gold to take home from Rio in perhaps the marathon or wrestling.
Five more medals for the US on Friday pushed them to 105 total, passing their London total and now within five of their total from Beijing. The US medal winning was diverse with golds in a track relay, BMX, and water polo including great stories in track and BMX of gold medalists who thought their Olympic dreams might have been over.
Thursday was all about the track and field for the US where they won six medals including a 1-2 shot put finish and a 1-3 women’s 400m hurdles finish. The US also had Ashton Eaton claim the “World’s Greatest Athlete” title for the second straight Olympics and had their first ever women’s wrestling gold medalist in a huge upset.
A nine medal haul on Wednesday that had only two golds but five performances that were better than any non-Americans in the field as the US went 1-2 in women’s long jump and the women’s 100m hurdles. There was also the best US finish in the men’s 3000m steeplechase in 64 years and the US continue their streak of taking a beach volleyball in every Olympics it’s been contested at.
Gwen Jorgensen is building a new winning streak. The American got her second straight World Triathlon Series win on Sunday when she once again cleared the field and won by almost a minute. With a time of 2:00:33 she held off second place Flora Duffy of Belarus by 51 seconds on this occasion to grab the top spot. Jorgensen wasn’t the only one with a good finish as fellow American Sarah True finished 15th. On the men’s side neither William Huffman and Hunter Lussi were factors in the top spot with Huffman finishing 28th and Lussi in 34th. Both were over five and a half minutes behind the winner.
The next Triathlon World Series event is in Stockholm, Sweden on July 2nd.
Previous IRU World Triathlon Series Coverage: Leeds Preview
Gwen Jorgensen leads a small US field competing in the Leeds Triathlon on Sunday as she goes for her second straight win in the World Series. Jorgensen started a new winning streak in Yokohama last month but for it to be a true streak she’ll need to win a second straight in Leeds. The only other American woman in the field is Sarah True who did not take part in Yokohama but was ninth in her last race in Cape Town. On the men’s side the only two entrants, William Huffman and Hunter Lussi, are yet to compete in an event so far this season.
Previous IRU World Triathlon Series Coverage: Yokohama Recap
Gwen Jorgensen‘s time outside first place in the ITU World Triathlon Series races didn’t last long. After losing for the first time since April 2014 at the Gold Coast Triathlon earlier this year Jorgensen rebounded to win the Yokohama Triathlon on Saturday and potentially start a new streak. Jorgensen’s time of 1:56:02 was good enough to beat Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle by 1:18 for a resounding win. Jorgensen wasn’t the only American with a good finish as Katie Zaferes was sixth for the second time this year and Kirsten Kasper grabbed a ninth place finish, her third straight top ten finish. In her first race of the year Summer Cook was the fastest swimmer and finished 14th.
On the men’s side things didn’t go quite as well as Joe Malloy was the top American with an 11th place finish, although that was less than fifty seconds behind the winner. The other top American contender, Gregory Billington, did not finish. Eric Lagerstrom (35th),Jarrod Shoemaker (45th), and Ben Kanute (17th) all had season best finishes.
The next IRU World Triathlon Series event will be in Leeds, United Kingdom on June 12th.
After being defeated for the first time in two years in the Gold Coast Triathlon and not participating in Cape Town Gwen Jorgensen will try to start a new winning streak as she competes in the Yokohama Triathlon on Saturday. Jorgensen isn’t the only American who is a threat to win, Renee Tomlin and Kirsten Kasper both have top five finishes this year (Tomlin in Abu Dhabi, Kasper in Cape Town), while Katie Zaferes was sixth in Gold Coast and Sarah True was ninth in Cape Town.
On the men’s side Joe Malloy, sixth in Gold Coast, and Gregory Billington, tenth in Gold Coast, give the US contenders as well.
Previous IRU World Triathlon Series Coverage: Cape Town Recap
Five of the seven Americans competing in the Cape Town Triathlon on Sunday had their top finishes of the year. That started with Kirsten Kasper who was fifth and 19 seconds behind the winner Non Stanford of Great Britain. Kasper wasn’t the only American in the top ten as Sarah True, 25th in her only previous race, was ninth and 25 seconds behind Kasper. Lindsey Jerdonek made it three Americans in the top 20 with a 16th place finish 15 sconds behind True.
On the men’s side Kevin McDowell was the top American but finished 2:23 behind winner Fernando Alarza of Spain. McDowell was joined in the top 50 by Robby Webster who finished exactly 50th in his first race of the series. Webster was 1:50 behind McDowell.
Seven Americans will be competing in the Cape Town Triathlon on Sunday though the top American finishers so far this year on both the men’s and women’s side will not be taking part. On the women’s side the top American competing is Kirsten Kasper who was tenth in her only race so far this year, Gold Coast. Two other Americans who finished in the top 25 at the Gold Coast, Lindsey Jerdonek (23rd) and Sarah True (25th) will also be competing.
On the men’s side Kevin McDowell, 19th at the Gold Coast in his only race, is the only one in the field who has competed in other races so far this year. The two new competitors are Robby Webster and Alex Libin.
