Day of Double Golds for Team USA as Gwen Jorgensen and Morgan Pearson Both Win at Karlovy Vary World Cup

KARLOVY VARY, Czech Republic – It was day of double golds for Team USA on Sunday, Sept. 10 as Rio de Janeiro Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.) and Tokyo Olympic Mixed Relay silver medalist Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.) both claimed victory at the 2023 World Triathlon Cup Karlovy Vary on Sunday.  

For the second weekend in a row, Jorgensen brought fans down memory lane as she seized the finisher’s tape in the women’s Olympic-distance event in a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 51 seconds, resulting in her first back-to-back golds since 2016.  

Pearson followed suite in the men’s race, throwing down a dominating breakaway performance to claim his first-ever World Cup win with a time of 1:51:55 in what was the seventh stop of the World Cup circuit and third Olympic-distance event. The win comes after his sixth-place finish at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Test Event last month, where he became the first U.S. man to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games next summer. 

Both Jorgensen and Pearson were the sole U.S. competitors in their respective events in Karlovy Vary. 

Coming off a demanding win last weekend in Spain, where she earned her first major elite victory in seven years, Jorgensen captured her win on Sunday after a nail-biting head-to-head battle with Rachel Klamer of the Netherlands on the run, which resulted in a sprint finish on the blue carpet. Jorgensen caught the edge in the final moment, crossing the line just 4 seconds ahead of Klamer.  

“One of the things I am most proud of from my race is not necessarily the result, but that I trusted myself and I gave it my all, and when I had the chance, I went for it,” Jorgensen said.  

She continued on racing a familiar opponent, “It’s nice to have someone I remember from back in the old days with me. Rachel [Klamer], I know her pretty well, I used to race her a lot. In the last lap she said, ‘Gwen I am just going to sit back, you are going to win’ and I said ‘what? OK I am going to let you go.’ I thought she was playing mind games, so it was pretty fun to race against her. She really pushed me at the end. I think Karlovy Vary is a non-runners course and people think I am just a runner, so to come out here and perform is something that I really wanted to target and do well.” 

After returning to elite competition this season for the first time since 2016, Jorgensen has now tallied three World Cup podiums in the year. She earned the silver medal in Huatulco in June, followed by the gold in Valencia last weekend. By putting forth a strong swim and getting into the lead bike pack of 12, she positioned herself to be an early frontrunner on the run, which led to the advantage of securing her second World Cup gold of the season.  

Klamer then earned the silver medal, finishing with a time of 2:03:55, followed by Germany’s Marlene Gomez-Göggel who claimed third (2:04:12). 

In the men’s race, Pearson showcased dominance from start to finish. He exited the swim only down by 8 seconds, where he then joined a leading bike pack of seven, which would eventually grow to 11.  

It was on the penultimate lap that Pearson saw an opportunity to break away as he rode off solo to earn the advantage heading into T2. He had a 29-second gap at the start of the run, which only grew throughout the 10k run. 

Pearson claimed his debut World Cup gold uncontested, beating out the competition by over a minute. 

“I didn’t know how I would feel [on the run] because I biked really hard obviously. It’s always a risk to do that. But I mean 30 seconds feels like a lot, but if you fry your legs, it’s a long way to hold the lead. I went out conservatively to try to cool off and the gap was still going up a little, so I just enjoyed the last lap – it was fun.” 

“There was a chase that caught us and I figured they were pretty tired from the catch, so I just decided to go. I pushed the hill and wasn’t even trying to make a gap, but realized I had a little gap on the steep hill and thought ‘let’s see what happens,’” Pearson said of his bike breakaway decision. 

Mark Devay of Hungary finished second with a time of 1:53:07, followed by Jonas Schomburg of Germany in third (1:53:10).  

The elites will look to compete next in a couple weeks in Pontevedra, Spain for the World Triathlon Championship Series Finals. The next World Triathlon Cup will be hosted in Tangier, Morocco in October. 

Full replays of the Karlovy Vary performances can be watched on-demand on TriathlonLIVE.tv.  

2023 World Triathlon Cup Karlovy Vary – Complete Results 
1500m swim, 40.8k bike, 10k run 

Elite Women Podium 
1. Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.), 2:03:51 
2. Rachel Klamer (NED), 2:03:55 
3. Marlene Gomez-Göggel (GER), 2:04:12 

U.S. Women’s Finishers 
1. Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.), 2:03:51 

Elite Men Podium 
1. Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.), 1:51:55 
2. Mark Devay (HUN), 1:53:07 
3. Jonas Schomburg (GER), 1:53:10 

U.S. Men’s Finishers 
1. Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.), 1:51:55