Jesper Svensson won wire-to-wire and Kirsty Jahn dominated on the bike and run to take the elite titles at Ironman Brazil.
Svensson began his domination with a narrow 3 seconds edge on the swim, led from the start of the bike leg and expanded that with a race-best 4:23:44 bike split to a 5:30 lead at T2. Svensson then withstood a charge by home country favorite Igor Amorelli that narrowed his lead to 4:26 at 23 kilometers. Svensson’s steady late race pace led him to a 3rd-fastest 2:55:41 marathon, propelling him to the finish in 8:08:07 with a 6:22 margin on Amorelli and 11:05 on 3rd-place finisher Thiago Vinhal of Brazil.
Svensson’s win was a career highlight following a win at the 2018 Ötillö Swim-Run World Championship with teammate Daniel Harisson and a 2nd place at 2017 Ironman 70.3 Austin.
Jahn began her day with a women’s 5th-fastest 53:27 swim that left her 5:58 behind super swimmer Haley Chura of the U.S. Two-thirds through the 180km bike leg, Jahn passed Chura and finished her women's-fastest 4:55:14 bike leg with a 7:14 lead on Chura and 9:43 lead on Bruna Mahn of Brazil. With plenty of lead in the bank, Jahn cruised home with the women’s 2nd-best 3:01:06 marathon that brought her to the line in 8:54:58 with an 8:36 margin of victory over runner-up Sarah Piampiano of the U.S., who closed with a women’s-best 2:58:21 run.
Jahn’s win was an Ironman breakthrough, coming after a 2nd place at the 2017 Ironman Cozumel.
Men
Svensson began what promised what might be a wire-to-wire win with a race-best 43:47 swim that gave him a 3 seconds lead on Marcus Fernandes of Brazil, 4 seconds on Luis Francisco Paiva Ferreira of Brazil, 58 seconds on Igor Amorelli of Brazil, 1:30 on Bruno Joaquim of Brazil, 2:40 on Frank Silvestrin of Brazil, 2:43 on Vinicius Canhedo of Brazil and Anton Blokhin of Ukraine, 2:48 on Guilherme Manocchio of Brazil, 2:49 on Fabio Carvalho of Brazil, 2:50 on Thiago Vinhal of Brazil and 2:52 on Luis Ohde of Brazil.
After 54 km of the bike leg, Svensson jetted out to a 3 minutes lead on Amorelli, about 6:50 on Ferreira and Fernandes and 8:33 to 8:53 on a pack of 9 including Blokhin of Ukraine and Brazilians Vinhal, Canhedo, Joaquim, Silvestrin, Fellipe Santos, Carvalho, Ohde and Manocchio.
By 141km, Svensson led by 5:57 on Amorelli, 11:18 on Manocchio, 12:13 on Carvalho, 13:56 on Ohde, 13:57 on Vinhal, 13:58 on Canhedo, 14:00 on Blokhin and 14:02 and 14:03 on Silvestrin and Ferreira.
After a race-best 4:23:44 bike split, Svensson led the field into T2 by 5:30 on Amorelli, 9:05 on Manocchio, 14:00 on Carvalho, 17:09 on Vinhal, 17:24 in Blokhin and 17:30 on Silvestrin.
After 23 kilometers of the run, Svensson gave ground grudgingly to a 4:26 lead on Amorelli with the rest of the field running for third – +10:52 on Manocchio, +13:32 on Vinhal, +14:19 on Silvestrin and +15:49 on Blokhin.
Women
Haley Chura of the U.S. led the swim with a 47:29 split that gave her a whopping 5:03 lead on Carolina Furriela of Brazil, 5:08 on Bruna Mahn of Brazil, 5:09 on Pamela Tastets of Chile, 5:58 on Jahn and 10:35 on Sarah Piampiano of the U.S. – whose bike and run skills marked her as one of the few competitors with the capacity to erase the deficit.
Halfway through the bike leg, Jahn sliced Chura’s lead to 1:15, while Mahn trailed by 2:48, Piampiano was 8:44 arrears and Furriela faded to a 22:45 deficit.
After a women’s best 4:55:14 bike split, Jahn held a 7:14 lead on Chura (5:08:20 bike split), 9:43 on Mahn (5:06:21 bike split), and 11:21 on Piampiano (5:01:34 split).
After 13 kilometer of the run, Jahn established firm control with a 10:13 lead on Chura, 12:14 on Piampiano and 12:52 on Mahn.
Ironman Brazil
Florianopolis, Brazil
May 27, 2018
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Jesper Svensson (SWE) 8:08:07 S 43:48 T1 2:37 B 4:23:44 T2 2:20 R 2:55:41
2. Igor Amorelli (BRA) 8:14:29 S 44:46 T1 2:35 B 4:28:17 T2 1:49 R 2:57:05
3. Thiago Vinhal (BRA) 8:19:12 S 46:38 T1 2:38 B 4:38:01 T2 1:31 R 2:50:25
4. Frank Silvestrin (BRA) 8:21:04 S 46:28 T1 2:47 B 4:38:07 T2 1:36 R 2:52:09
5. Guilherme Manocchio (BRA) 8:22:17 S 46:36 T1 2:53 B 4:29:44 T2 1:52 R 3:01:14
Women
1. Kirsty Jahn (CAN) 8:54:58 S 53:28 T1 3:22 B 4:55:14 T2 1:50 R 3:01:06
2. Sarah Piampiano (USA) 9:03:34 T1 3:47 S 58:05 T1 3:47 B 5:01:34 T2 1:49 R 2:58:21
3. Bruna Mahn (BRA) 9:10:38 S 52:38 T1 2:47 B 5:06:21 T2 1:38 R 3:07:15
4. Haley Chura (USA) 9:25:08 S 47:30 T1 3:28 B 5:08:20 T2 2:04 R 3:23:48
5. Pamela Tastets (CHL) 9:41:14 S 52:39 T1 2:48 B 5:16:12 T2 2:30 R 3:27:07
