IRONMAN 70.3 Peru 2023 results: O'Donnell and Oliveira win

The last American man to stand on the podium in Kona, Tim O’Donnell, showed that age is just a number this weekend as the 42 year old won at IRONMAN 70.3 Peru.

In the women’s race, Pamella Oliveira of Brazil followed up her third place finish at Clash Miami with her first win of the season, as she took the tape by a large margin of victory.

The race, held in the capital city of Lima, had two slots in both the men and women’s race on offer for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in August, which this year will be held in Lahti, Finland.

Pro Men

In the men’s race, the day started well for O’Donnell, as he exited the water in the front group alongside Rodrigo Gonzalez (MEX), Armando Abaunza (PAN) and Martin Baeza Munoz (CHI).

In the second group, American Dylan Gillespie, along with Brazilian Igor Amorelli and Chilean Martin Ulloa, were around 40 seconds off the front, as eight men left T1 within a minute of each other.

Out on the bike, it was the two Americans, Gillespie and O’Donnell, who worked well together to open up a gap on the rest of the field, as their hard work was rewarded with a +2:20 buffer back to Amorelli by the time they reached T2, as Gillespie started out on the run course with a slender 30 second lead over O’Donnell.

Gillespie, who achieved a long time goal of earning his pro licence in 2018, pushed hard on the run to maintain his place in the Top 3, as O’Donnell quickly got away within the first 5k.

Amorelli, who exited T2 with over +2:30 to make up, chased hard throughout the run, catching Gillespie but just running out of road in the pursuit of O’Donnell.

Tim O'Donnell celebrates — [Photo Credit – Tim O’Donnell]

O’Donnell rounded out a good performance with a solid 1:17 run off the bike, as Amorelli came up 60 seconds short in second and Gillespie was rewarded for his tenacity on the bike with a third place finish and a spot on the podium.

Pro Women

In the women’s race, Oliveira continued her good run of form with a strong win, as the Brazilian led from start to finish to win comfortably, with a ten minute lead back to Romina Biagioli in second.

After exiting the water with a 30 second lead over Argentinian Baglioli, Oliveira never looked back, as she followed her tremendous swim up with a dominating performance on two wheels.

By halfway on the bike, her lead had grown to +2:42, and as the race went on, she extended it out to just under six minutes by T2, as Diana Castillo of Colombia moved up into second place.

Out on the run, there was no questioning whether or not Oliveira would get the job done, as the Clash Miami third place finisher cruised in with a 1:23 half marathon, as Biagioli overhauled Castillo halfway through the run to take second, with Colombian Castillo in third.