It was a victory for a home favorite in the women’s race and a win for a top Serbian athlete in the men’s: Djenyfer Arnold and Ognjen Stojanovic have just won Ironman 70.3 Rio de Janeiro.
For Stojanovic, it was a day spent racing near the front from start to finish, though for a long time within a large group. During the swim, he broke away alongside Diogo Andrade Villarinho, but the leading duo lost their one-minute lead on the bike segment as a lead pack of no fewer than ten men formed.
However, that lead group didn’t stay together all the way to T2. As athletes gradually dropped off the back, only Gustavo Wiebbeling, Martin Baeza, Enzo Krauss, Andre Lopes, Martin Ulloa, and Stojanovic remained at the front. These six men started the half marathon together.
The run remained tense for a long time, as Stojanovic, Krauss, and Lopes ran side-by-side for the first eight kilometers. Before the halfway point, Lopes was the first of the trio to drop off. A few kilometers later, Krauss also broke, leaving Stojanovic to head for the finish line alone. He reached the finish in a time of 3:50:52. Krauss finished second in 3:52:46, while Baeza – who overtook Lopes in the closing stages – took third in 3:55:53.
In the women’s race, Djenyfer Arnold put on a one-woman show, dominating the event from start to finish. In a field consisting of six Brazilian competitors and two Chilean athletes, Arnold took the lead during the swim and exited the water with a one-minute advantage. Any remaining suspense vanished on the bike leg as Arnold kept pushing the pace, expanding her lead to 7:51 by the time she reached the second transition zone.
The half marathon was essentially a formality, which Arnold completed in 1:23:27 to claim victory in a total time of 4:14:15. Pamella Nascimento de Oliveira finished second in 4:24:44, and Pietra Meneghini completed the all-Brazilian podium, finishing third in 4:38:50.
