The Ironman Tallinn 70.3 is the half-distance event and followed Saturday's full Ironman.

The 28-year-old Räppo swam the 1,900 meters, biked the 90 kilometers and ran the half marathon in a total time of 3 hours, 38 minutes and 32 seconds. He was followed by Germany's Hannes Butters, who finished one minute and seven seconds behind. Italy's Enzo Bourdon crossed the line in third, nearly three minutes behind Räppo.

"I went to a special camp to practice riding with the wind and I feel like I've gotten better at that," said Räppo, adding he won't get much time to rest on his laurels as: " I'll be going to France to start preparing for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships there in early September."

Among the women, Bernardi took first place with a time of 4:12.03. Kapten entered the finish straight in second place, but had given so much that she fell and surrendered the position to France's Sandra Huon (+1.05). The 20-year-old Estonian nevertheless managed to get back on her feet and crossed the line four seconds after Huon, securing an impressive third place (+1.09) as the first Estonian finisher.

"I ran, walked, and finally crawled across the finish line," said Kapten, adding it was: "Anyway, awesome! I made the mistake of eating too little during the race and paid for it. I'm really proud of myself for making it to the end."

While hopes were pinned on Kaidi Kivioja, who set a domestic record at the European Championships in Hamburg in June, the competitor finished 13th in Tallinn.

In Saturday's full-distance event, France's Remi Conte took victory, while Finland's Laura Jalasto was the top woman finisher. Estonia's Kristofer Kamberg was the highest placer from the host nation in the full event.

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