When it comes to listing off our favourite moments of 2015 and picking out the “Best”, American Gwen Jorgensen‘s season of perfection was near the top.
Jorgensen became a female elite icon in 2015 when she not only won her second consecutive World Championship title in her host nation, but did so after winning every single race she competed in throughout the whole season in order to earn a perfect rank score of 5200 Columbia Threadneedle points that guaranteed her the crown. AND as if she could be any more historical, her seven-time winning streak of 2015 was added to her overall WTS winning streak and brought the total up to 12 consecutive victories since the first one in Yokohama back in 2014.
Domination. Perfection. Champion.
All words that describe Jorgensen’s year. So in honour of all of her phenomenal accomplishments and undefeated glories, let’s take a look back and each individual 2015 WTS win that captured her a back-to-back title.
Abu Dhabi
For the first time in ITU history, the WTS season started off in the Middle East. Jorgensen claimed her first victory after she trailed in the swim and then started off the run with a deficit of over a minute. But with her best leg left, she closed the gap by 45 seconds in the first lap and ultimately surpassed her competition and seized the victory.
Auckland
A win in Auckland was the first time in three attempts. Jorgensen once again was trailing after the swim by 40 seconds, but her strong efforts catapulted her into a comfortable lead where she was able to cross the finish line with a 90-second lead over the silver medallist.
Gold Coast
An uncontested run to the finish line saw Jorgensen grab another slice of ITU history as she claimed her eighth consecutive WTS victory. The Gold Coast victory marked the longest-running WTS streak of any elite woman since the inception of the series at the time.
Yokohama
Crossing the line once again with a lead that stretched a little over a minute, her win in Yokohama granted her a three-peat victory in the Japanese city.
London
In London, Jorgensen stood on top of the podium, but for a second time in the season was accompanied by her two U.S. compatriots, in a sweep of the medal count.
Hamburg
In her first sprint race of the season, Jorgensen proved that she was a threat no matter the distance in her Hamburg victory.
Chicago
And in the 2015 Grand Final in Chicago, the season of perfection was finalized after she was able to breakaway in the final kilometres and capitalize on the sixth and last victory of the WTS season.