Abu Dhabi: Defending ITU World Triathlon Series women’s champion Gwen Jorgensen of United States extended her record streak to sixth straight win in the series by clinching the inaugural WTS Abu Dhabi series on Saturday. She clocked 00:58:58sec at the Corniche here.

In the men’s action, reigning world champion Javier Gomez Noya of Spain had a forgettable outing and had to be content with the sixth spot but his compatriot and good friend Mario Mola hogged the limelight by clinching the title at 00:52:31s. On second place was Frenchman Vincent Luis - 13 seconds behind while South African Richard Murray was third. A lot was expected of Jonathan Brownlee, but the Briton struggled all through the race and had to settle for the fifth spot.

“I am very happy with everything today. I had an okay swim and then I knew how strong the other guys are in the sprint finish and it worked very well for me. It is about taking all the experience ahead of the Olympics and try to get a medal there,” said a jubilant Mola, adding that he was enjoying the company of his compatriot Javier and it has been a huge learning curve for him with the latter around.

“It is better to have Javier around racing. I will of course fight for every race but I see Javier’s rivalry as a positive thing. This race went well but I have to stay positive as we have a long season ahead,” revealed Mola adding that he was keen to emulate what Javier has achieved over the years.

Jorgensen, who did not have a great swim, kept the best for the 5km run and came all guns blazing to breach a 52 seconds deficit over third-placed Flora Tuffy of Bermuda (00:59:22s), who led the pack in the early stages of the run. In second place, 16 seconds behind Jorgensen was her compatriot Katie Zaferes, who claimed her maiden podium finish.

A beaming Jorgensen revealed that she had “surprised herself” with her showing in the run. “It was great to come out here and win. I didn’t have a great swim but tried to get up on the bike and focus on what we were working on and then in the run, I put my head down and went for it,” said Jorgensen, who was trailing by 38 second after the 750m swim.

Despite the exceptional start, Jorgensen was of the view that things will get tougher as the season progresses. “This is the Olympic qualifying year and everyone is looking towards it and it will get harder and harder until the Olympics,” she added.

Zaferes was undoubtedly ‘super excited’ with her showing as she had never finished better than seventh in a World Triathlon Series race.

“It was a good start for USA. I’m doing the right thing and so far I have been in the right place. My goal for this season is to try and do as much as eight out of 10 series this season. This was the first race and obviously you have a bit of jitters but everything went well today,” said an elated Zaferes.

Third placed Tuffy, though losing out on her advantage in the run, clearly put Bermuda on the map with her stunning performance and she too was pretty pleased with her showing. “I was not expecting to be hitting the run and it was my first podium. It was totally unexpected and I was riding the bike hoping to get the group away. When I was running there was lot of fast girls out there but this finish is huge,” said Tuffy, who is the only professional Triathlete from Bermuda and has made South Africa her training base.