The eyes of many were undoubtedly on Gwen Jorgensen, who made her comeback today at the Oceania Cup in New Zealand’s Taupo. She did with success, because in her first high-level triathlon since 2016, the Olympic Champion of that same year immediately finished third.
It is not as if Jorgensen has been sitting still in recent years; she devoted herself to the marathon and became a mother twice. Currently, she is mainly trying to qualify for the U.S. Mixed Team Relay to compete in the Paris Olympics. At least in Taupo, she showed that her level is fine already; the race was won by Nicole van der Kaay, who was followed by Ainsley Thorpe at two seconds. Jorgensen finished third at 32 seconds. The men’s race was won by Davis Castro.
Afterwards Jorgensen was very pleased. “Might have taken my ‘play over perfection’ expression a little to seriously in my first race back because I made mistakes yet absolutely loved it. So excited to be back at it tomorrow in the mixed team relay. Another opportunity.”
