Ironman: Gabriel Pertusot qualifies for the World Championship

Last Sunday, the SXM Tri Académie club from Saint Martin fielded nine competitors at the Panama Ironman 70.3, six of whom were tackling this demanding distance for the first time. The event took place over a 1.9 km swim in the Panama Canal, a 90 km bike ride on a rolling course through the heart of Panama City (three 30 km loops, 394 m of elevation gain), followed by a 21.1 km half-marathon run (also three loops).
Of the 1,344 registered participants, 1,132 managed to complete the race, including all the club’s athletes, marking a superb collective performance. Of particular note was the fine performance by Greg Pigeon, who finished 37th overall in 4h 24min 33s and 5th in his age group. But the standout performance of the weekend went to Gabriel Pertusot, who finished in a remarkable 13th place in 4 hours 14 minutes 19 seconds (6th in his category), a result that qualifies him for the World Championships, to be held in Nice next September.