The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jorgensen takes triathlon
U.S. woman triumphs, four years after flat tire cost her in London.
RIO DE JANEIRO — As she wobbled along on a flat tire four years ago in London, Gwen Jorgensen promised to turn that heartbreak at Hyde Park into a conquering of Copacabana Beach at the Rio Games.
She crushed both the course and the competition Saturday, giving the U.S. its first Olympic triathlon gold medal by cruising across the finish line in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 16 seconds. That was 40 seconds ahead of silver medalist Nicola Spirig of Switzerland, who won gold at the 2012 Games after Jorgensen’s flat tire relegated her to a 38th-place finish. Vicky Holland outsprinted British teammate Non Stanford for the bronze.
Jorgensen and Spirig were even until Jorgensen made her move with 2 kilometers left in the 10K final leg that followed a steep, 38.5K bike ride and a one-loop ocean swim.
Jorgensen has emerged as the world’s best women’s triathlete, collecting 17 career wins in the World Triathlon Series and backto-back ITU world championships before cutting back this year to focus on the Olympics.
In Rio, Jorgensen used superior hill climbing skills to make up a 12-second deficit coming out of the water, surpassing almost all of the 22 racers who were faster getting ashore in choppy water. By the time she dismounted she was two seconds behind leader Lisa Norden of Sweden and immediately broke away with Spirig.
Women’s golf: Inbee Park’s first win of the season might be the biggest of her career. The South Korean made three straight birdies early in the final round, never let anyone closer than three shots the rest of the way and closed with a 5-under 66 for a 16-under 268 total and a five-shot victory. Lydia Ko of New Zealand, the No. 1 women’s player, made an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 69 to claim silver. Shanshan Feng of China shot 69 and took bronze at 274.
Boxing: Cuban Robeisy Ramirez used a strong third round to finish off American Shakur Stevenson and win the bantamweight final, which was even through two rounds. Ramirez, now a twotime Olympic gold medalist, won 29-28 on two scorecards. Stevenson, 19, fighting out of Newark, N.J., won one card 29-28. He lost an international bout for the first time in his career.
■ British fighter Nicola Adams become the first two-time women’s Olympic boxing champion with a unanimous decision over France’s Sarah Ourahmoune. Adams swept the scorecards 39-37 to win lightweight gold.
Women’s volleyball: The topranked U.S. team earned a bronze medal, beating the Netherlands 25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19 — two days after a heartbreaking five-set loss to Serbia in the semifinals.
Men’s diving: Chen Aisen won the 10-meter platform, giving China its seventh title in eight diving events at Rio. German Sanchez of Mexico earned silver and defending champ David Boudia of the U.S. took bronze.
Elsewhere: American J’den Cox won an 86-kilogram freestyle wrestling bronze medal with a win over Cuba’s Reineris Salas Perez. ... Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds won gold in women’s mountain bike. ... In men’s badminton, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia won gold . ... Russia’s Aleksander Lesun took gold in men’s modern pentathlon, holding off reigning world champ Pavlo Tymoschmenko . ... Margarita Mamun became the fifth straight Russian to claim the all-around title in rhythmic gymnastics, edging three-time world champion Yana Kudryavtseva . ... Russia beat France 22-19 to win women’s handball gold . ... Serbia beat Croatia 11-7 to win gold in men’s water polo.