{"id":7823,"date":"2021-03-15T01:49:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T01:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsnewsforyou.com\/?p=7823"},"modified":"2021-03-15T01:49:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T01:49:42","slug":"gwen-jorgensen-run-secrets-of-a-speed-demon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=7823","title":{"rendered":"Gwen Jorgensen \u2013 run secrets of a speed demon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world of tri has watched, admired and marvelled at American Gwen Jorgensen\u2019s complete and total destruction of the WTS women\u2019s circuit over the last few years. Mouths agape, time and again we\u2019ve seen her devour the tarmac to claw back seemingly insurmountable time deficits post-T2.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Her running style has been described as near-perfect by some of the top coaches in the sport. Darren Smith, coach to Olympic silver medallist Lisa Norden and Commonwealth gold medallist Jodie Stimpson, told 220<\/em>: \u201cJorgensen\u2019s just killing everyone, isn\u2019t she? If you look at her, everything\u2019s straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But where has this long-limbed leopard come from? How does one go from accountant, specialising in corporation tax, to the most successful female Olympic-distance triathlete to have ever graced the ITU\u2019s distinctive blue carpet?\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Marked potential<\/p>\n

Older sister Elizabeth may well be the answer. Herself a keen track and field athlete in high school, Liz\u2019s coach, Eric Lehmann, approached her one day to demand \u201cYou have to get your sister to start running\u201d. Gwen, however, was in love with swimming, refusing to miss a day in the pool for any other sport.<\/p>\n

Lehmann, clearly unperturbed and aware of the potential talent in his midst, said he would be flexible, allowing her to swim around two run sessions a week. Success on two feet came swiftly, even though the hours devoted to running were significantly less than those swimming.<\/p>\n

Moving to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to study general accountancy (\u201cnot knowing what I wanted to study, but I just found this very interesting\u201d) in 2004, Lehmann continued to encourage her, convincing her to try for the college team \u2013 \u201cI just thought he was nuts,\u201d admits Gwen now. \u201cBut he called up the coach, Jim Stintzi and I was on the team later that year. And then I did a time-trial and qualified for the NCAA\u2019s [National Collegiate Athletic Association], so it was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Multisport fortune would come a-knockin\u2019 in 2009 in the shape of former American pro triathlete Barb Lindquist, who had started working for (America\u2019s equivalent of the BTF) USA Triathlon to identify, recruit and ultimately mentor talent from college swimming and track teams for their Olympic programme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBarb was the reason I started doing triathlon,\u201d says Gwen, who by now was on a one-year Masters programme. \u201cShe came to me as part of that programme and asked me if I would try a triathlon. At the time I had a full-time job lined up at Ernst & Young, so it was kind of a hard decision. She told me to just give it a shot and see if I liked it. She said I could work full time and do tri.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Qualifying for the London Olympics one year later, she became the programme\u2019s first success story. After making the team, she took a leave of absence from her job, a position that she still technically holds: \u201cI could go back! That\u2019s always nice to know when your athletic career may one day be over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But could she honestly see herself going back to a desk job? \u201cI really did enjoy my work with Ernst & Young, I enjoyed what I was doing, but I can\u2019t complain about my job now. I mean I love being outside and getting to do what I love every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

School of wizardry<\/p>\n

Despite the fanfare leading up to the 2012 Games, Gwen\u2019s race in London was effectively ruined by a flat tyre, leaving her trailing in 38th place as her teammate Sara Groff took fourth. But before the Olympics, Gwen had approached Triathlon Canada\u2019s national high-performance coach, Jamie Turner, a Kiwi, drawn by the idea of working in a dedicated triathlon team. In October of that year, she joined his squad, the Wollongong Wizards, whose Twitter biog reads: \u201cIllawarra-based Triathlon School of Wizardry. We make magic happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been phenomenal,\u201d says Gwen of the set-up. \u201cI knew that in order for me to become more successful and become the best athlete, I needed to join this type of group. And Jamie was incredible, the way he has this group set up, everyone is encouraging, everyone is happy and truly happy for other athletes when they do well. I wouldn\u2019t have this success without the Wollongong Wizards and Jamie, they have really helped me and pushed me every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While Gwen\u2019s results pre-Games were solid, including a second place behind Helen Jenkins at the 2011 London WTS race, post Wollongong Wizard-enrollment her success on the ITU course has been relentless, with 11 top-five World Tri Series finishes out of 17 starts. And of those 11, eight were wins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Gwen first started working with Jamie, the focus was inevitably on building up her swim and bike strength \u2013 which, ironically, while still not nearly as strong as her run strength, have both resulted in an even stronger run. \u201cThe stronger we get on the swim and the bike, the better my run is. I\u2019m not as fatigued going into it and I have more strength. We worked on glute strength a lot with my running, which is important as well as core work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing Gwen running faster because she\u2019s now more economical and efficient on the swim and the bike,\u201d says Turner. \u201cSo we will continue to see Gwen run faster as she improves in the swim and the bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what exactly makes Gwen\u2019s run so good? In short, everything. Turner highlights the following elements:<\/p>\n

\u201cHer mechanics are good, her stride length, her ability to hold her form under stress is good, she is good at extracting the most out of herself in the run and she thrives and enjoys the challenge of running fast. It\u2019s something she really prides herself on. Physiologically her numbers are good too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cA lot of it has to do with genetics,\u201d says Gwen. \u201cWhen I was growing up I did everything I could to be successful at swimming. However, I wasn\u2019t world class. I still have to work extremely hard at swimming, whereas running comes more naturally. I\u2019m also consistent in my running \u2013 running about 50\u201360km a week.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finding the balance<\/p>\n

Often compared to another of the great triathlon runners, Emma Snowsill (who also helps mentor a number of the Wollongong Wizards), Jorgensen has divided opinion as to whether she can ever be truly classed as a great triathlete when she relies so heavily on one discipline to win races.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at my competitors and at the men on the circuit and I see those who are dominant on the swim, bike and\u00a0 run \u2013 the Brownlees, Javier Gomez \u2013 and that\u2019s what I want to be,\u201d she admits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the thing I love about ITU racing is that every race is different,\u201d she continues. \u201cSometimes swim\/bikers get away. Sometimes everyone is together coming into the run. You have to be able to swim with the best, bike with the best, and run away from the best to win. I\u2019m still trying to balance all three.<\/p>\n

\u201cI treat the swim like a swim race, bike like a bike race and running like a run race. The cycling is not a 40k TT like in non-drafting. The accelerations and power output on the bike are difficult and can really affect the run off the bike. You need to be able to accelerate and surge throughout the race. It\u2019s a lot of sprinting and recovering.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Investing for the future<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are improvements every day to aim towards in terms of stability and strength,\u201d says Turner on Gwen\u2019s training focus leading into a new season. \u201cWhen you take up the sport late like Gwen did you miss all of those junior opportunities. Gwen came in as a 24-year-old accountant, remember, not a triathlete. So the challenge is to keep investing in the process. Yes, she has a gift, certainly genetically as well, but she works just as hard as everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Jorgensen said: \u201cThe Olympics are the biggest one-day race in our sport and crazy things can and will happen. Triathlon is unique in that there are so many variables: there can be a swim\/bike breakaway, a mechanical on the bike, the race may all come together. The challenge of the sport is also its beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(Images: Laughing Dog \/ Delly Carr)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world of tri has watched, admired and marvelled at American Gwen Jorgensen\u2019s complete and total destruction of the WTS women\u2019s circuit over the last few years. Mouths agape, time and again we\u2019ve seen her devour the tarmac to claw back seemingly insurmountable time deficits post-T2. Advertisement Her running style has been described as near-perfect…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}