Olympic silver medallist and T100 winner Julie Derron has announced she’s about to step up full-distance.

The Swiss star was second at the Paris Olympics last year, splitting France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and Britain’s Beth Potter.

And the last 12 months have seen her make a massive impact at middle-distance racing.

Derron ended Knibb’s 100% T100 record

Derron was the closest challenger to the near-unbeatable Taylor Knibb last season and finally got the better of her at T100 San Francisco in May this year.

The run at Olympic distance is 10km, it’s 18km at T100 and 21km at 70.3 but she’s now about to take on a 42.2km marathon after the swim and bike.

Writing on Instagram, she said: “Surprise 👀. In less than two weeks I‘ll be doing an Ironman 🤗 I’m super excited for the challenge and to see what my body is able to do when going all day 🔥”

Kona places on the line

The race in question is IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country in Spain and Derron will wear bib #3 in a small but select field.

The two women ahead of her are former IRONMAN World Champion Anne Haug and Marjolaine Pierre, who last weekend won a second World Triathlon Long Distance title.

There are three places available for Kona in what is the penultimate opportunity in Europe to gain a qualifying slot to the women’s 2025 IRONMAN World Championship.

But this won’t be Derron’s full-distance debut as she raced IRONMAN Italy back in 2022 when her time of 8:43:19, rounded off with a 2:57 marathon, saw her finish second to Svenja Thoes.