Gwen Jorgensen considered quitting triathlon in April 2014, one month before starting her unprecedented 14-race winning streak, she wrote on her website.
Jorgensen, the-two time reigning World champion and heavy favorite to become the first U.S. Olympic triathlon champion in Rio, finished a disappointing 12th in the 2014 World Triathlon Series season opener in Auckland, New Zealand.
“Last year I debated quitting the sport after my race in Auckland,” Jorgensen, who had won three World Triathlon Series races in 2013, wrote in a blog posted Sunday. “I thought I didn’t belong. At the time, [coach] Jamie [Turner] and [husband] Patrick [Lemieux] told me to take a week and just think about it and reflect on what I wanted out of the sport and if I wanted to continue.