Heartbroken sister of fitness influencer Mara Flavia pays tribute to her 'other half' as final photo emerges before triathlon death

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, who was a journalist turned fitness influencer, was taking part in the 2026 Ironman Texas in the US on April 18 when she reportedly drowned during the swim portion of the event.

Local police first announced the death of a competitor on Facebook, before media outlets 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'm going to have to learn to live without it," she wrote. "And it hurts in a way I can't even explain.

"It's a strange silence, an emptiness I knew existed before, as if the world had lost a bit of colour. But at the same time, I know you're not made to go unnoticed."

Araujo said her sister "lived too hard".

"[Your life] was always synonymous with determination, courage, a force that did not fit inside 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 I'll take care of our old folks down 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 now in a different way," she said.

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

"Take your rest my sister. This will hurt, but I will honour your life everyday. I love you for ever and ever."

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office confirmed a participant in the Ironman Triathlon event had drowned while participating in the swim portion of the April 18 event.

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

"Just another day of work!" she captioned the photo.

Mystery still surrounds the cause of Flavia's death. However, The Sun media outlet in the US has today quoted Luis Taveira, a friend of Flavia, who said she had been "ill before the trip" and "wasn't okay".

"My wife and I spoke with her to say she was too weak for this race, although a couple of days ago when we talked to her, she insisted she was OK."

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