13 Points Separate Three Women Heading Into London
A London win will mean a world championship for Gwen Jorgensen, Anne Haug or Non Stanford.
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Across seven World Triathlon Series races, four different continents, it all comes down to this. Just 13 points separate Gwen Jorgensen, Anne Haug and Non Stanford in the race for the 2013 ITU Elite Women’s World Championship.
As the margin is so close it actually makes the final elite title easier to predict, if one of those three crossed the finish line in London first, they will also win the 2013 World Championship.
In a year of consistent podium performances from the top-four, with Jodie Stimpson as the fourth, it’s hard to pick exactly who will come out on top. But at the moment, rankings leader Jorgensen definitely deserves to be the favourite. She has already collected three WTS wins this season, becoming only the second woman since Paula Findlay in 2011 to do so in one season. Jorgensen also proved in Stockholm last month that her ever-improving swim means she is now a triple-threat.
However, Haug has also produced two unbeatable races this season in Auckland and Hamburg (plus another if you count the season-opening Mooloolaba World Cup), while Stanford’s first career series win in Madrid saw her flying ahead of the pack and recording a faster run split on the day than Jorgensen. Stanford is also going for a unique place in history, as the first woman in ITU history to go straight from winning an U23 World Championship title to an elite one. So far, only Alistair Brownlee has managed that feat.
Then there is Stimpson, who has collected three podium places and her first series win in Kitzbuehel this year. While she will need other results to fall into her favor to take the overall title, it is still possible.
Read more: Triathlon.org