When a streak gets to ten wins in a row, you are approaching very unique standards. Carry that string of 10 wins over two different seasons and it gets that much more impressive. I am not sure that most triathlon fans fully understand where Gwen is in the ALL TIME greatest female short course triathlete list? Having had the honour of calling most of Gwen's career and the majority of her 10 consecutive WTS wins, I have had the chance to watch her and coach Jamie Turner up close. And it has been impressive.
Initially one could argue that Gwen was a one-trick pony. She was an average swimmer, below average novice biker and an exceptional runner. That was a legitimate assessment of Gwen in 2012 and even 2013. The move to Australia and Spain with Australian coach Jamie Turner, has seen some impressive results for Gwen. The first real improvement came in her swim. With her improved swim, she was consistently coming out of the water in the top 10 women, leaving it much more difficult for the other women to have a GET OUT OF THE WATER and STAY AWAY strategy. A number of Gwen's earlier podiums had her putting in huge run efforts to mow down the competition on the final few kilometers. But with her improved swim and ever improving bike skills (and tactics), its been much tougher for her competition. The majority of the last 4-5 races have seen Gwen exit the water withink 3-5 seconds of the lead women, do her fair share of the work on the bike, then run an off the charts 5k or 10k split to win easily.
To talk about the greatest ever, you have to add Emma Snowsill, Emma Carney and Vanessa Fernades to the conversation. Vanessa had more wins in her career (20+). Carney had more streaks of 6-8 consecutive wins and was insanely dominant during the mid 90s when she won 2 World Championships (but health issues and a flawed Sydney selectiion policy saw her never make the Olympic Games). Finally Olympic Gold Medalist Emma Snowsill was also a World Champion and Commonwealth Games Champion, but race injuries kept her from having anywhere near the string of wins that Gwen, Emma Carney and Vanessa put together in their careers.
Carney had a handful of Aussies (Jackie, Loretta and others) to test her during her string. Vanessa had Emma Snowsill to stop her strings. But right now, with Norden, Spirig, Hewitt and a few of the other key women not firing on all cyclinders, its hard to see who is the legitimate athlete to knock Gwen off her amazing string of wins. Mathematics suggest that it should be one of her American Team-mates (Katie, Sarah or Renee) who have the goods under the right circumstances to stop Gwen (at least for a weekend).
To be mentioned legitimately as one of the greatest women of all time (or perhaps THE GREATEST) Gwen needs another World Title or two and an Olympic medal (perferably gold in Rio). Neither of those are overly difficult to see occurring. Of course at just about this time four years ago, Canadian Paula Findlay had won 5 WTS Races, had won on the London Course and many were questioning whether anyone could challenge the young Canadian. So we all know that nothing in life is 100%. You also need a bit of luck along the way.
Gwen did something on Sunday in London that was off the charts and not widely reported. She was ill for 72 hours before the race. She and coach Jamie never complained or even showed their cards on the issue. I spoke to both Jamie and Gwen's husband Pat, to confirm before the race that she was not 100%. In fact she was far from being 100% healthy. The fact the race was a sprint likely worked to her benefit as she only had to push herself for 55 minutes, instead of nearly 2 hours in an Olympic race. Impressively she started, had a solid lead pack swim and contributed to her fair share of keeping the lead pack of women away for the 20km bike. Then off the bike, she did the patented Gwen slow out of T2, steady for 1km till she caught the other women, then ran an impressive (when ill) 16 min flat 5k run split to win her 10th in a row. After the race she was a bit of a mess, but did all the media expected as an A++ pro.
ITU, USA Triathlon and the sport in general need an American to win and win big. More media, sponsors and opportunity flow from the USA then anywhere else in the world, and a healthy, Gwen Jorgensen moving farther into the mainstream USA media is a great thing for everyone. Only two women (Emma Snowsill and Canadian Carol Montgomery) have ever run with the kind of dominance that Gwen is now showing. One would have to think with the relatively few training years Gwen actually has under her belt, that we can expect another 3-5 more years of improvement before things flatten out. That is pretty scary for the rest of the women in the world.
Having announced the very first ITU races nearly 3 decades ago, I know that all GREAT THINGS do come to an end. It maybe injury. It maybe motivation. It maybe equipment or anyone of a number of things. But at just 29, well coached, improving weekly, healthy and well supported by her husband Pat, her sponsors, USA Triathlon and her training mates, its going to take an out-of-body race effort from one of her competitors, or a crash to likely stop Gwen's current streak in 2015. Olympic Gold Medalist Nicola Spirig is very special and I can't imagine that her coach Brett Sutton is not working on some insane bike and run strategy to try to return the Swiss Superstar to the top of the podium by Rio Olympics next year. But Nicola has very few ITU races on her 2015 schedule as she prepares for the epic showdown in Rio next year. Gwen is currently a superior swimmer to Nicola and her run times have been superior to what Nicola has produced (so far). The bike maybe the one place that the sports greatest cyclist, Nicola Spirig is trying to change the outcome on the tough, hilly Rio Olympic Course in 2016.
With the World Championship TItle and Grand Final in Chicago in September, it would be incredibley unique if Gwen was able to carry her streak into that final race of 2015. Having interviewed Gwen many times and seen numerous other interviews with her, she will play down her current impressive streak. "I can't change what the other girls do, I am simply taking care of the small details each week" is her basic mantra and it is the proper one for sure.
You would have to put Gwen's current streak up with Chrissie Wellington's Ironman domination during her short but impressive career. Gwen's streak is perhaps a bit more impressive when you realize how close most ITU races have been over the years, and how one bad swim or T1 change or flat tire could alter the outcome in the draft legal format. A bad swim by Chrissie and she still had 5hrs on the bike and 2hrs 55 minutes on the run to catch up and win. A bad swim or wetsuit problem or flat tire by Gwen and her streak could have already come to an end (as we saw with the flat tire in the transition zone by Jonny Brownlee on Sunday).
Often fans and media don't fully appreciate when they are in the middle of something incredible. I can tell you what Gwen has done so far is off the charts, and considering that she is getting better each week, and gaining more strength, skill and confidence, her streak has the potential to continue for a long time (or do as Emma Carney did and immediately start another string as soon as she lost once). A lovely woman and amazing athlete, Gwen is helping lead perhaps the greatest USA WOMEN"S TEAM ever (and thats saying a lot when you look back to Barb, Sheila, Susan and Laura from the early and mid 2000s).
Enjoy the ride Gwen Jorgensen fans. All amazing things must come to an end. I am sure we all hope that its just not in the next 18 months.
Barrie Shepley
Voice of the ITU TV Broadcasts
Hall of Fame Triathlon Coach
& Lover of all things triathlon
Initially one could argue that Gwen was a one-trick pony. She was an average swimmer, below average novice biker and an exceptional runner. That was a legitimate assessment of Gwen in 2012 and even 2013. The move to Australia and Spain with Australian coach Jamie Turner, has seen some impressive results for Gwen. The first real improvement came in her swim. With her improved swim, she was consistently coming out of the water in the top 10 women, leaving it much more difficult for the other women to have a GET OUT OF THE WATER and STAY AWAY strategy. A number of Gwen's earlier podiums had her putting in huge run efforts to mow down the competition on the final few kilometers. But with her improved swim and ever improving bike skills (and tactics), its been much tougher for her competition. The majority of the last 4-5 races have seen Gwen exit the water withink 3-5 seconds of the lead women, do her fair share of the work on the bike, then run an off the charts 5k or 10k split to win easily.
To talk about the greatest ever, you have to add Emma Snowsill, Emma Carney and Vanessa Fernades to the conversation. Vanessa had more wins in her career (20+). Carney had more streaks of 6-8 consecutive wins and was insanely dominant during the mid 90s when she won 2 World Championships (but health issues and a flawed Sydney selectiion policy saw her never make the Olympic Games). Finally Olympic Gold Medalist Emma Snowsill was also a World Champion and Commonwealth Games Champion, but race injuries kept her from having anywhere near the string of wins that Gwen, Emma Carney and Vanessa put together in their careers.
Carney had a handful of Aussies (Jackie, Loretta and others) to test her during her string. Vanessa had Emma Snowsill to stop her strings. But right now, with Norden, Spirig, Hewitt and a few of the other key women not firing on all cyclinders, its hard to see who is the legitimate athlete to knock Gwen off her amazing string of wins. Mathematics suggest that it should be one of her American Team-mates (Katie, Sarah or Renee) who have the goods under the right circumstances to stop Gwen (at least for a weekend).
To be mentioned legitimately as one of the greatest women of all time (or perhaps THE GREATEST) Gwen needs another World Title or two and an Olympic medal (perferably gold in Rio). Neither of those are overly difficult to see occurring. Of course at just about this time four years ago, Canadian Paula Findlay had won 5 WTS Races, had won on the London Course and many were questioning whether anyone could challenge the young Canadian. So we all know that nothing in life is 100%. You also need a bit of luck along the way.
Gwen did something on Sunday in London that was off the charts and not widely reported. She was ill for 72 hours before the race. She and coach Jamie never complained or even showed their cards on the issue. I spoke to both Jamie and Gwen's husband Pat, to confirm before the race that she was not 100%. In fact she was far from being 100% healthy. The fact the race was a sprint likely worked to her benefit as she only had to push herself for 55 minutes, instead of nearly 2 hours in an Olympic race. Impressively she started, had a solid lead pack swim and contributed to her fair share of keeping the lead pack of women away for the 20km bike. Then off the bike, she did the patented Gwen slow out of T2, steady for 1km till she caught the other women, then ran an impressive (when ill) 16 min flat 5k run split to win her 10th in a row. After the race she was a bit of a mess, but did all the media expected as an A++ pro.
ITU, USA Triathlon and the sport in general need an American to win and win big. More media, sponsors and opportunity flow from the USA then anywhere else in the world, and a healthy, Gwen Jorgensen moving farther into the mainstream USA media is a great thing for everyone. Only two women (Emma Snowsill and Canadian Carol Montgomery) have ever run with the kind of dominance that Gwen is now showing. One would have to think with the relatively few training years Gwen actually has under her belt, that we can expect another 3-5 more years of improvement before things flatten out. That is pretty scary for the rest of the women in the world.
Having announced the very first ITU races nearly 3 decades ago, I know that all GREAT THINGS do come to an end. It maybe injury. It maybe motivation. It maybe equipment or anyone of a number of things. But at just 29, well coached, improving weekly, healthy and well supported by her husband Pat, her sponsors, USA Triathlon and her training mates, its going to take an out-of-body race effort from one of her competitors, or a crash to likely stop Gwen's current streak in 2015. Olympic Gold Medalist Nicola Spirig is very special and I can't imagine that her coach Brett Sutton is not working on some insane bike and run strategy to try to return the Swiss Superstar to the top of the podium by Rio Olympics next year. But Nicola has very few ITU races on her 2015 schedule as she prepares for the epic showdown in Rio next year. Gwen is currently a superior swimmer to Nicola and her run times have been superior to what Nicola has produced (so far). The bike maybe the one place that the sports greatest cyclist, Nicola Spirig is trying to change the outcome on the tough, hilly Rio Olympic Course in 2016.
With the World Championship TItle and Grand Final in Chicago in September, it would be incredibley unique if Gwen was able to carry her streak into that final race of 2015. Having interviewed Gwen many times and seen numerous other interviews with her, she will play down her current impressive streak. "I can't change what the other girls do, I am simply taking care of the small details each week" is her basic mantra and it is the proper one for sure.
You would have to put Gwen's current streak up with Chrissie Wellington's Ironman domination during her short but impressive career. Gwen's streak is perhaps a bit more impressive when you realize how close most ITU races have been over the years, and how one bad swim or T1 change or flat tire could alter the outcome in the draft legal format. A bad swim by Chrissie and she still had 5hrs on the bike and 2hrs 55 minutes on the run to catch up and win. A bad swim or wetsuit problem or flat tire by Gwen and her streak could have already come to an end (as we saw with the flat tire in the transition zone by Jonny Brownlee on Sunday).
Often fans and media don't fully appreciate when they are in the middle of something incredible. I can tell you what Gwen has done so far is off the charts, and considering that she is getting better each week, and gaining more strength, skill and confidence, her streak has the potential to continue for a long time (or do as Emma Carney did and immediately start another string as soon as she lost once). A lovely woman and amazing athlete, Gwen is helping lead perhaps the greatest USA WOMEN"S TEAM ever (and thats saying a lot when you look back to Barb, Sheila, Susan and Laura from the early and mid 2000s).
Enjoy the ride Gwen Jorgensen fans. All amazing things must come to an end. I am sure we all hope that its just not in the next 18 months.
Barrie Shepley
Voice of the ITU TV Broadcasts
Hall of Fame Triathlon Coach
& Lover of all things triathlon