Andy Potts and Sarah Piampiano secure a win at Ironman Brazil
Potts made his race-winning move on the bike, and Piampiano ran a 2:53 to secure a Kona spot with the win.
Known for its blazing fast course, Ironman Brazil in Florianópolis always attracts a competitive professional field. In 2016, Tim Don (GBR) set an Ironman-branded world record in Brazil (7:40:23), and the year before that, Canada’s Brent McMahon won the race in 7:46:10. Last year, Kirsty Jahn (CAN) won Ironman Brazil (8:54:57), two weeks before winning Ironman Boulder.
At this year’s edition of the race, Andy Potts (USA), William Clarke (GBR) and Igor Amorelli (BRA) quickly separated themselves from the rest of the field on the bike. At the halfway point, the three had a seven-minute advantage on Frenchman Cyril Viennot. Heading into T2, Potts had gapped Clarke and Amorelli by over four minutes. On the run, Potts managed to hold off Clarke in the latter stages of the marathon. The American crossed the line in 8:02:58, and was followed by Clarke in 8:06:31. Setting the fastest run split of the day (2:47:15), Frank Silvestrin (BRA) ran himself onto the podium with a finishing time of 8:10:20.
In the women’s race, Sarah Piampiano (USA), last year’s runner up, came out of the water eight minutes behind Pamella Oliveira (BRA). However, halfway through the 180K bike, the American had already erased six minutes off her early deficit. Heading out of T2, Piampiano had a five minute lead on Oliveira and didn’t look back. In the marathon, Piampiano held 4:07/km splits for 42.2K to finish with a 2:53:18 (8:40:49). Oliveira crossed the line in second, and Bruna Mahn (BRA) finished third.
