World Triathlon Series two-time world champion Flora Duffy of Bermuda and Matt Trautman of South Africa stood atop the podiums at Ironman 70.3 South Africa.

Women

Duffy, after losing most of last season recovering from injury, took on her first career 70.3 with dominating swim and run legs to finish in 4:34:05 with a 2:03 margin of victory over Emma Pallant of Great Britain and 7:12 better than 3rd place finisher Jade Nicole of South Africa. .

While Duffy was noted for dominating the bike leg during her 2015 and 2016 World Championship seasons at the Olympic distance, that was not the case in her first try at the 70.3 distance as she surrendered 11:11 to Pallant’s 2:33:01 bike split and a whopping 8:07 to third place finisher and former pro cyclist Jade Nicole of South Africa.

Duffy explained what happened to her on the second half of the bike leg on Twitter: “Did my first Ironman 70.3 yesterday. In the last 45 km my left glute really locked up and was unable to push any power (I lost 9 mins!). So glad I was able to recompose myself and run for the win. Learnt a lot and so happy to punch my ticket to worlds #IM703SA.)

However, Duffy’s women’s-best 25:43 swim was 4:18 better than Pallant and 4:20 better than Nicole, and the Bermudan’s 1:20:37 half marathon was 7:01 better than Pallant and 11:04 better than Nicole – more than making up for her off-form cycling leg.

Men

Trautman improved on his 2019 runner-up finish at this race by combining a 4th-fastest 25:44 swim, a second-best 2:17:16 bike split and a dominating 1:15:43 run to finish in 4:02:59 with a 2:49 margin of victory over fellow South African Bradley Weiss and 4:31 over 3rd place finisher and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Henri Schoeman, who rounded out a 1-2-3 South African men’s sweep in his 70.3 debut.

Trautman came out of the swim 2:16 behind swim leader Henri Schoeman, then surged to the lead at T2 by 3 seconds over South African Kyle Buckingham, 6 seconds over two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert of Germany, 7 seconds over Weiss and 17 seconds over Schoeman. But once he began the run, Trautman shut the door on his rivals with a race-best split that was 2:32better than Weiss and 4:12 better than Schoeman.

Ironman 70.3 South Africa
East London, Buffalo City, Eastern Cape, South Africa
January 26, 2020
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.

Results

Women

1. Flora Duffy (BER) 4:34:05 S 25:43 T1 2:58 B 2:42:12 T2 2:36 R 1:20:37
2. Emma Pallant (GBR) 4:36:08 S 30:01 T1 2:48 B 2:33:01 T2 2:42 R 1:27:38
3. Jade Nicole (RSA) 4:41:17 S 30:03 T1 3:07 B 2:34:05 T2 2:23 R 1:31:41
4. Natia Van Heerden (RSA) 4:46:26 S 32:19 T1 3:18 B 2:40:29 T2 2:12 R 1:28:09
5. Annah Watkinson (RSA ) 4:48:39 S 30:00 T1 3:08 B 2:42:37 T2 2:20 R 1:30:36
6. Mariella Sawyer (RSA) 5:00:44 S 34:21 T1 2:52 B 2:54:17 T2 2:04 R 1:27:12
7. Kristin Leopold (GER) 5:06:10 S 39:15 T1 4:05 B 2:53:51 T2 4:59 R 1:24:02

Men

1. Matt Trautman (RSA) 4:02:59 S 25:44 T1 2:31 B 2:17:16 T2 1:15:43 R 1:15:43
2. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 4:05:48 S 25:46 T1 2:35 B 2:17:18 T2 1:57 R 1:18:15
3. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 4:07:30 S 23:27 T1 2:35 B 2:19:46 T2 1:49 R 1:19:55
4. Bart Aernouts (BEL) 4:09:10 S 28:48 T1 2:52 B 2:17:29 T2 2:05 R 1:17:58
5. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) 4:10:17 S 25:53 T1 2:40 B 2:17:01 T2 1:57 R 1:22:47
6. Michael Raelert (GER) 4:11:32 S 25:38 T1 2:19 B 2:17:30 T2 1:53 R 1:24:04
7. Cyril Viennot (FRA) 4:15:50 S 25:54 T1 2:41 B 2:23:12 T2 2:08 R 1:21:57