Dame Flora Duffy Provides Update On Injury
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Dame Flora Duffy said she hopes to return to action for the Paris Test Event in August after revealing she is recovering from a long-term knee injury.
The four-time world champion triathlete took to social media yesterday [May 15] to reveal she needed injections to help her battle through the end of last season after a scan showed she had suffered a patella tendon tear.
She said her knee started bothering her after winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July and had a platelet-rich plasma injection, which uses a patient’s blood cells to accelerate healing, seven weeks before the 70.3 World Championship in St George, Utah, in October, where she finished fifth.
“I had to be very careful with my load to the end of November when my season ended,” Duffy said in a video posted on Instagram.
“I didn’t run very much. One or two sessions here and there. I was careful with the intensity and the amount of riding and swimming I was doing.
“I was very amazed I got through the end of the season. However, during that time, I was making my knee worse.
“In January, it flared up really bad. It’s been a struggle to calm my knee down. There are now a few other things in my knee, which need rehabbing along with my tendon.”
Since returning to her home in Boulder, Colorado, in mid-April, Duffy said she has returned to light training as she continues her rehabilitation.
“It’s been a real puzzle to figure out the correct loading, as well as how much training I can do on the side,” she said.
“There have been large chunks this year I haven’t trained just to try to calm my knee down and focus on my rehab.
“I have a good team of physios and doctors here helping me.”
Despite her frustrating spell on the sidelines, the 35-year-old said she is motivated to defend her Olympic title at the Paris Games next summer.
“I would like to be back on the race course for the Paris Test Event in August,” she added.
“I just need to see how my rehab goes. I’m taking it week by week.
“I don’t want to push myself to get back. The Paris Olympics in 2024 is my big goal.
“As frustrating as it is, I must keep that in mind. I’m just trying to stay focused on my rehab and be very patient with my training, which is hard for me to do.”
