Fitness influencer Mara Flavia death sister pays tribute

The sister of a Brazilian fitness influencer who died while taking part in a triathlon in the US has paid tribute to her “other half”.

Mara Flavia, a journalist, was turned fitness influencerwas competing in the Ironman Texas 2026 in the US on April 18, when she reportedly drowned during the swimming portion of the event.

Local police first announced the death of a competitor on Facebook, before media in Brazil identified Flavia, 38, as the victim. Now her heartbroken sister Melissa Araujo has taken to Instagram this morning to pay tribute to her.

“My other half… a piece of me is gone, and I will have to learn to live without it,” she wrote. “And it hurts in ways I can’t even explain.

“It’s a strange silence, a void that I already knew existed, as if the world had lost a little color. But at the same time I know that you were not made to go unnoticed.”

Araujo said her sister was “living too hard.”

“[Your life] was always synonymous with determination, courage, a strength that did not fit within you.

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“You were meant to live large, to feel everything, to leave history, and you left. In me, in our family, in every memory, you have now become a precious part of who you were.

“I promise to take care of our old people here with all the love in the world.”

She ended the post by asking her sister to “promise to take care of them from above.”

“We have always been a duo, and we still are, just in a different way now,” she said.

“Somehow I know you’ll still be with me. In my decisions, in my courage when I lack strength, in the little things of the day that only we understood. I will carry you with me through everything.

“Rest, my sister. This will hurt, but I will honor your life every day. I love you forever and ever.’

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The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a participant in the Ironman Triathlon event drowned while participating in the swimming portion of the April 18 event.

Flavia had posted a photo of herself on the edge of a pool just hours before taking part in the fateful event.

“Just another day of work!” she captioned the photo.

There is still a mystery surrounding the cause of Flavia’s death. However, The sun media outlet in the US today quoted Luis Taveira, a friend of Flavia, as saying she had “been sick before the trip” and was “not well”.

“My wife and I spoke to her to say she was too weak for this race, although a few days ago when we spoke to her she insisted everything was fine.”

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