Elite Triathletes Run, Bike and Swim Into Chicago

ITU World Triathlon Series held in Chicago for first time

Some of the world's best athletes will be in Chicago this weekend for the 2014 ITU World Triathlon Chicago race.

Chicago is the fifth of eight stops in the series in which elite triathletes compete head-to-head throughout the year. It's only the third U.S. city to host the series, which also stops in international locations such as Auckland, New Zealand and Stockholm, Sweden.

The event features 130 triathletes, 60 elite paratriathletes and 4,000 age-groupers competing along the shores of Lake Michigan before finishing at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park.

The world's No. 1 women's triathlete, Gwen Jorgensen, will compete in the race. Jorgensen, a Minnesota native, is also a five-time ITU World Triathlon Series champion. She'll be pushed by world champion and Olympic triathlete Helen Jenkins of Great Britain, 2012 Olympic gold medalist Nicola Spirig of Switzerland and 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Emma Moffatt of Australia.

On the men's side, top ranked Javier Gomez of Spain will compete against four-time U.S. Olympian Hunter Kemper and 2008 U.S. Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker.

The women's race will air live on the NBC Universal Sports Network on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., and the men's event will air Sunday at 4 p.m.

Motorists should note that traffic will be halted on Lake Shore Drive for about 8 minutes at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday for the races.

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