U.S. triathletes Sarah Piampiano and Matt Chrabot win Ironman Argentina at Mar Del Plata.

Piampiano started her day in 9th place, 10:05 behind swim leader and fellow American Dede Griesbauer. After a women’s race-best 4:52:20 bike split, Piampiano ascended to 3rd place, 9:28 back of Griesbauer. On her way to a women's second-best 3:10:57 marathon, Piampiano took the lead at 19 kilometers and cruised to the finish in 9:11:03 with an 8:19 margin of victory over Tine Deckers of Belgium.

Mar Del Plata was Piampiano’s second win of a good year, which included a win at Qujing 70.3 and second place finishes at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship in Cairns and at 70.3s in Peru and Santa Rosa.

Chrabot combined a 4th-best 48:58 swim, a 3rd-best 4:30:47 bike split and 2nd-fastest 2:55:47 run to finish in 8:19:57 with a 6:06 margin of victory over Jozsef Major of Hungary and 7:14 over 3rd-place finisher Igor Amorelli of Brazil.

This victory comes after Chrabot's 2nd place 70.3 finishes at Boulder, Los Cabos and Cozumel.

Women

Dede Griesbauer of the U.S., at an indomitable 47 years of age, led the women’s swim in 53:08 which gave her a 2:53 lead on Magali Tisseyre of Canada, 2:59 on Ewa Bugdol of Poland, 5:47 on Pamela Tastets of Chile, 6:07 on Tine Deckers of Belgium, 6:23 on Caroline Livesey of Great Britain, 9:45 on Asa Lundstrom of Sweden and a daunting 10:05 gap on Piampiano.

After a women’s second-best 4:52:58 bike split, Griesbauer led the women into T2 by 8:38 on Deckers and 9:28 on Piampiano, who passed a ton of women with a women’s-best 4:52:20 bike split. Much further back were Lundstrom (+14:08) and Tisseyre (+17:48).

Once on the run, Griesbauer was the rabbit and the greyhounds were Piampiano, Deckers and Tisseyre. At 12.5km, Griesbauer’s lead was trimmed to 1:38 over Piampiano, and 2:25 to Deckers. At 19km, Piampiano took over and led Griesbauer and Deckers by 1:26 and 1:28.

By 26km, Piampiano expanded her lead to 3:35 on Deckers, 5:21 on Griesbauer, 14:08 on Lundstrom and 17:48 on Tisseyre.

After a women’s 2nd-best 3:10:57 marathon, Piampiano finished in 9:11:03 with am 8:19 margin of victory over Deckers (3:19:56 run) 13:34 on 3rd-place Tisseyre (women’s-fastest 3:07:42 run) and 13:51 on 4th place Griesbauer.

Men

Ivan Risti of Italy led the men’s swim in 48:51 which gave him a 4 seconds lead on Igor Amorelli of Brazil, 5 seconds on Bas Diederen of Netherlands, 7 seconds on Matt Chrabot, 13 seconds on Reinaldo Colucci of Brazil, 26 seconds on Miquel Blanchart Tinto of Spain, 5:32 on Mario de Elias of Argentina, 5:33 on 47-yeqar-old Argentine triathlon legend Oscar Galindez, and 10:53 on Jozsef Major of Hungary.

Halfway through the 180 kilometer, 2 loop bike leg, Colucci took a 4 seconds lead on Chrabot, 5 seconds on Amorelli, 4:18 on Risti, 2:59 on Tinto and 3:02 on Diederen. After a race-best 4:27:16 bike leg, Amorelli led into T2 by 3:53 over Chrabot (4:30:47 bike split), 9:35 on Colucci, 11:05 on Risti, 12:34 on Diederen, 13:36 on Major, 14:45 on Tinto and 16:33 on Galindez.

Amorelli took off in the run at a slower pace than the four nearest competitors chasing him. After 12.5 km, his lead was sliced to 1:45 over Chrabot, 7:30 over Risti and Colucci, 10:38 on Major and 12:02 on Tinto. By 20km, Chrabot took over the lead and by 26km the American led Amorelli by 2:51, Risti by 6:48, Major by 8:38, Tinto by 12:30 and Galindez by 13:54.

After 33km, Chrabot had a comfortable lead of 5:19 on Amorelli, 7:27 on Major, 9:11 on Risti and 13:18 on Tinto.

After a second-fastest 2:55:47 marathon, Chrabot finished in 8:19:57 with a 6:06 margin of victory over fast-closing Major (race-best 2:51:48 run split) and 7:14 over 3rd-place Amorelli (3:06:43 run).

Ironman Argentina
Mar Del Plata, Argentina
December 3, 2017
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.

Results

Women

1. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 9:11:03 S 1:03:12 B 4:52:20 R 3:10:57
2. Tine Deckers (BEL) 9:19:22 S 59:14 B 4:55:52 R 3:19:56
3. Magali Tisseyre (CAN) 9:24:37 S 56:00 B 5:12:19 R 3:07:42
4. Dede Griesbauer (USA) 9:24:54 S 53:08 B 4:52:48 R 3:33:08
5. Asa Lundstrom (SWE) 9:25:36 S 1:02:52 B 4:57:40 R 3:20:28

Men

1. Matt Chrabot (USA) 8:19:57 S 48:58 B 4:30:47 R 2:55:47
2. Jozsef Major (HUN) 8:26:03 S 59:43 B 4:29:21 R 2:51:48
3. Igor Amorelli (BRA) 8:27:11 S 48:58 B 4:27:16 R 3:06:43
4. Miquel Blanchart Tintó (ESP) 8:31:47 S 49:16 B 4:41:24 R 2:56:56
5. Ivan Risti (ITA) 8:32:54 S 48:51 B 4:38:26 R 3:01:29