St. Paul's Gwen Jorgensen, who won triathlon gold at the Rio Olympics, is auctioning off the bike she used during training to support the Dare2tri Paratriathlon Club in Chicago.
Jorgensen, a two-time world champion in the triathlon and now an Olympic gold medalist, will auction off her Columbia Threadneedle branded bike she used during training and in races prior to the Olympics at a charity event and auction Sept. 30 in Chicago.
In the next couple of weeks Jorgensen will likely be less dependent on her biking and swimming talent as she trains to run her first professional marathon.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments, the global asset management group of Minneapolis-based Ameriprise Inc., sponsors the International Triathlon Union World Triathlon series and has sponsored Jorgensen since 2014.
Prior to her Olympic victory she raced and trained on a bike that was painted with a light blue and white paint scheme that includes the Columbia Threadneedle logo. Jorgensen also rolls on wheels made by Roseville-based Hed Cycling Products.
"The custom painted Specialized Amira with HED wheels, which I trained and raced on earlier this season, was one of my favorite bikes. " Jorgensen said in a statement. "I hope it raises a lot of money for Dare2tri when it goes on auction next month.
The Dare2tri Paratriathlon Club serves youth, adults and injured service members who have a physical disability participate in triathlon. Online auction bids for Jorgensen's bike will start being accepted on Sept. 23.
Paratriathlon will be a new event at the 2016 Paralympic Games that run from Sept. 7 - 18 in Rio. It is one of the few events at the games where able-bodied athletes can compete side-by-side with para athletes. Competitors will face a 750 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike and 5 kilometer run.
"We are grateful to Gwen and the team at Columbia Threadneedle for their ongoing support and this generous contribution to our gala event," said Keri Serota, executive director of Dare2tri in a news release.
