Videos: Dame Flora Duffy Strikes Gold Again
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Dame Flora Duffy strengthened her legacy as Bermuda’s greatest-ever athlete by spectacularly retaining her title in the women’s triathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Already the most iconic female triathlete of all time, Duffy reinforced her impeccable CV after storming to another gold medal today at Sutton Park, a National Nature Reserve six miles north of the city.
It was another historic moment for the island’s golden girl, the Olympic champion, the three-times world champion, the six-times Xterra world champion – the list goes on.
“The Olympic gold trumps everything, but it’s always special to come and win at a major Games,” said Duffy, competing in her final Commonwealths.
“These events only come around every four years, and it’s special to know I’m one of the few on the Bermuda team with a legitimate chance of winning a gold medal.
“That weighs pretty heavy on me, and it means a lot to perform well and win a medal for Bermuda.”
Duffy’s dominance has been recognised and celebrated in her homeland, with Corkscrew Hill and the South Field Stadium renamed in her honour after her Tokyo win.
And yet, despite standing at the pinnacle of short-course triathlon, Duffy did not consider her herself the favourite for victory, believing Georgia Taylor-Brown, the world No 1 and darling of the home crowd, owned that tag.
The pair have enjoyed some epic battles, with Duffy beating her rival in Tokyo last summer with Taylor-Brown settling for silver.
And it so proved again, with Duffy finishing the sprint-distance race [750 metres swim, 20km bike, 5km run] in 55min 25sec – comfortably ahead of Taylor-Brown in 56:06.
“It was funny that Georgia and I were off the front [in the bike], but, of course, it would be,” said Duffy, who recorded splits of 9:22, 28.17 and 16:32.
“That’s really special for me, as I get towards the end of my career, to have a rivalry like that.
“She’s such a talented athlete and a friend of mine. It’s cool to be out there battling with each other.”
Duffy came out of the water in second behind Beth Potter and was soon joined by Taylor-Brown on the bike, with the race quickly becoming a shoot-out between the sport’s two superstars.
She might be six years older than her rival, but it hardly showed as Duffy pulled away from Taylor-Brown in the run, cruising to the finish in complete control to become the first Bermudian to win back-to-back Commonwealth golds.
“I wanted to shake one of two from the group on the bike, and that’s when Georgia and I got off on the front,” Duffy said.
“I knew the run would be a battle and, luckily, I got a bit of a gap on her. But I knew Georgia could come back on me; she has before. I tried to use the energy of the crowd. There were loads of Bermuda flags out there which was really cool.”
Although she won the recent World Triathlon Championship Series race in Hamburg this month, Duffy has struggled to capture top form this year, having caught Covid for a second in five months last month, and admits she has not been at her best since winning gold in Tokyo.
“One year later, I found that form again!” Duffy added. “This year has been strange, having Covid twice and managing the fatigue from last year. I’ve had to be patient with myself.
“It’s not easy racing when not quite ready. I had to trust I would get stronger and turn up here and have a good chance of winning.”
Update: Photos of the medal ceremony courtesy of the organisers
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