McMahon third at Ironman Brasil
In just his second Ironman, Brent McMahon grabbed third in a tight finish at the Latin American Ironman Championship while posting his second sub-eight hour Ironman in just six months. Etched in history for having the fastest Ironman debut ever, McMahon won Ironman Arizona in 2014 in a time of 7:55:48. At Ironman Brazil on Sunday,  there were only three minutes separating first and third. Belgian athlete and multiple Ironman winner Marino Vanhoenacker  won in a time of 7:53:44 while American Tim O’Donnell took second in 7:55:56 with McMahon clocking 7:56:55 for third. Prime Ironman qualifying points and a larger prize purse drew one of the deepest field of competitors on the circuit.
What a performance by the podium guys at #ironmanbrazil. Empty tank @tribrentmcmahon? #BahrainEndurance13 pic.twitter.com/f9St24Fn6Q
— Bahrain Endurance 13 (@bahraintri13) June 1, 2015
McMahon’s coach of 20 years, Lance Watson said, “To finish within one minute of his last Ironman shows that we have figured out what works for Brent… 7:56 is going to win most any Ironman. This was an incredibly tough field and all three podium finishers had unbelievable days. This may be one of the fastest Ironman podiums of all time”.
The race started with McMahon, Igor Amorelli and O’Donnel leading the swim (47:02) about one minute ahead of the chase pack. Onto the bike Vanoenacker put the hammer down riding at the front in 4:11:23 with McMahon, O’Donnell, Â Amorelli and Tyler Butterfield in pursuits but about eight minutes back. It was on the run, however that O’Donnell and McMahon would drop the others running 2:45 and 2:47 respectively.
On the women’s side, hometown favourite, Ariane Monticeli Silveira took the win in 8:59:03 followed by Liz Lyles of the US in second in 9:00:31 and compatriot Amanda Stevens in 9:01:27. Canada’s Karen Thibodeau was eighth in 9:15:08.
