May 6: 2016 Olympic Triathlon Gold Medalist Gwen Jorgensen to Make Half-Marathon Debut at 2018 USATF Championships

Press Release
April 24, 2018

PITTSBURGH – Olympic Triathlon Gold Medalist Gwen Jorgensen will make her half-marathon debut in Pittsburgh next month at the 2018 USATF Half Marathon Championships, part of 10th annual DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend of events. The 31-year-old former professional triathlete announced her retirement last fall to focus on distance running, with the goal of winning gold in the 2020 Olympic Marathon in Tokyo, Japan.

“I am very excited to be making my half marathon debut at the USATF Half Marathon Championships, hosted by the DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon and P3R, and look forward to testing my limits in this new distance” Jorgensen said. “I heard the course is fast with some inclines across five bridges, finishing with a tough climb. The course also goes past the Penguins stadium, and although I have never been to Pittsburgh, I am a Penguins fan.”

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Jorgensen became the first American woman to win Olympic Gold in the Triathlon. Later that year, she ran the New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 41 minutes and 1 second, finishing 14th in her marathon debut against a world class field.

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Jorgensen, who now trains with 2017 NYC Marathon champion Shalane Flanagan and the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, Oregon set a 10,000 meter personal record and winning time of 31:55.68 at the Stanford Invitational on March 30, 2018. That early season 10,000m mark currently ranks her 9th in the world.

This year’s USATF Half Marathon Championships offers an event-record guaranteed prize purse of $85,000 that goes 15-deep per gender, including a record $15,000 each for the national champions. The race is part of the USATF Running Circuit, a road race series featuring USATF Championships from one mile through the marathon.

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The full list of entrants will be released in late April. For more information about the USATF Half Marathon Championships, visit: pittsburghmarathon.com/USATFHalfChampionships.

P3R shares a common goal with the USATF Running Circuit – to showcase, support and promote American athletes in the running industry. With support from SportsPITTSBURGH, P3R looks forward to increasing exposure and racing opportunities for emerging U.S. runners in the City of Pittsburgh when hosting the 2018 and 2019 USATF Half Marathon Championships for men and women.

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