By Paul Osborne

Gomez secured his third successive win of the 2014 World Triathlon season with victory in Yokohama ©ITUSpain's Javier Gómez has once again thrown down the gauntlet as he secured his third consecutive victory of the season at the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Series in Yokohama,

In an impressive day for Spanish athletes, Gómez edged past compatriot Mario Mola in a sprint finish to continue his 100 per cent record for the 2014 World Triathlon Series..

In the women's competition, America's Gwen Jorgensen successfully defended her Yokohama title as she finished well clear of Japanese surprise medallist Ai Ueda.

"I just love Japan, I don't know why, I think it's because I love rice, but to win twice is awesome," Jorgensen said.

"Three years ago I think I came out here and had the 12th fastest run or something, to it's really hard to win two races on the same course in a row."

Mario Gómez just edged past compatriot Mario Mola to take his third win of the 2014 World Triathlon Series as the race went down to a sprint to the line in Yokohama ©ITUMario Gómez just edged past compatriot Mario Mola to take his third win of the 2014 World Triathlon Series as the race went down to a sprint to the line in Yokohama ©ITU


Gómez's win yet again re-affirmed his place at the top of the World Triathlon Series as he pulled out his most impressive win yet this season.

While in Auckland and Cape Town, Gomez dropped Jonny Brownlee with a few kilometres to go to assure his win, he did not capture the Yokohama victory until the final metre.

As the Brownlee brothers, Jonny and Alistair, dropped off the pace midway through the run, Gómez and teammate Mola pulled away from third placed Richard Murray of South Africa with just a kilometre to go to the line.

As the duo entered the blue carpet together, a sprint to the line saw Gómez lunge to the tape as it counted, crossing the finish line mere centimetres ahead of his teammate in a time of 1 hour 45min 31sec.

"With Mario and Richard, they run pretty fast and I was just about to drop in the second or third lap and somehow I managed to get up," said Gómez.

"Then I got down to the final few hundred metres, I knew that Mario is pretty fast but I just gave it everything, the third sprint I've won in my life, so I'm pretty happy.

"Third win of the year; I can't believe it's going so good."

Gwen Jorgensen was dominant in the women's race as she defended the title she won in Yokohama 12 months ago ©ITUGwen Jorgensen was dominant in the women's race as she defended the title she won in Yokohama 12 months ago ©ITU



Jorgensen looked to have gained confidence from her bronze in Cape Town in April as she powered her way to a second successive victory in this race.

The American benefitted from a congested bike leg as she moved out of transition two amongst the leaders.

Jorgensen has proved her strength in the run over the past two races, putting in splits over a minute fastest than anyone else in the field.

The 28-year-old didn't disappoint in Japan as she finished the 10km leg in a 33min 43sec split to gain comfortable 38 second lead over Ueda in second and finish in an impressive 1:58:38.

Uedi will be happy with second as she claims her first career medal and becomes just the second Japanese athlete to a medal in Yokohama, alongside Juri Ide.

Third place in the women's race fell to 2011 under-23 World Championship winner Agnieszka Jerzyk, who secured Poland's first Series medal.

Series leader Jodie Stimpson of Britain, who secured victories in the opening two legs of the season, finished ninth despite suffering a cut foot, and maintained her lead in the rankings after three rounds of the Series.

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April 2014: Gómez continues quest for fourth world title in Cape Town beating Brownlee again
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