Tyler Butterfield: “Most Fun Experience”
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Tyler Butterfield has described his fifth and final Commonwealth Games appearance as his “most fun experience” in triathlon after helping Bermuda finish seventh in the mixed team relay.
Bermuda’s line-up of Tyler Smith, Flora Duffy, Butterfield and Erica Hawley came seventh in 1hr 20min 6sec.
“It was the bronze medal we were hoping for, but we gave it our best shot,” Butterfield told Bernews.
“We came here with pretty high expectations. We needed the perfect race and for some of the other teams to make mistakes.
“We thought we’d have a battle with Canada, and we did. It wasn’t the place we wanted [but] teams like South Africa were behind us [in eighth].
“We were there or thereabouts with some big countries. If we raced again next week, I don’t think the results would be identical.”
Butterfield praised the efforts of Smith and Hawley, the less experienced members of the foursome in Birmingham.
“I was super impressed with the performances of Tyler and Erica in the individual races [on Friday],” Butterfield said. “They were super professional.
“I think we should all be proud. We did what we could do.”
Dame Flora hands over to Tyler Butterfield!! He is making yet another Commonwealth Games appearance for #Bermuda….20 years after his first Commonwealth Games way back in 2002. pic.twitter.com/dMtpvnUeRJ
— BernewsSports (@BernewsSports) July 31, 2022
For Butterfield, it marked the final chapter of his Commonwealth Games story, having made his debut at the Manchester Games in 2002 in triathlon before switching to cycling for the Melbourne Games in 2006.
He also competed in triathlon at the Glasgow Games in 2014 and the Gold Coast Games in 2018, where the mixed team relay made its debut.
The 39-year-old is not the only member of his family to have competed in the Commonwealths; his father, Jim Butterfield, represented Bermuda in the marathon in Edmonton in Canada in 1978.
“I don’t think too far in the future,” Butterfield added. “I thought we all had a better performance than we did four years ago.
“This was the best and most fun experience in triathlon that I’ve ever had.”
