Duffy On Olympic Goals, Legacy & More
Dame Flora Duffy – speaking to award-winning Bermudian journalist Glenn Jones – has talked about her goals heading into her fifth Olympic Games in Paris, her emotional return to action after a career-threatening injury, and her dreams for her sports-funding programme.
Duffy will defend the gold medal she won at the rescheduled Tokyo Games in 2021 – the largest margin of victory in the women’s triathlon in Olympic history – on Wednesday [July 31].
It will be the comeback of all comebacks should Duffy win a second successive Olympic medal, considering she only returned to competition in May after an 18-month injury layoff.
“A year ago, I was not training much at all, and my knee wasn’t making any progress,” Duffy told Jones, who flew to Boulder, Colorado, to interview her at her home on behalf of Bernews.
“My massage therapist told me, ‘If this thing doesn’t turn around by February next year [2024], I think you should call it. You’ve tried everything, you’ve accomplished everything; I really think this might be it.’ That was a really emotional moment.”
The 36-year-old, who became the island’s first Olympic gold medal-winner in Tokyo, came seventh at the World Triathlon Championship Series [WTCS] Yokohama in Japan on her race return before placing eighth at WTCS Cagliari in Italy.
She has spent the past few months sharpening her swim, bike, and run, closing the gap on her Olympic rivals.
“It’s a cool opportunity to go there and be an Olympic champion,” she said.
“I was not thinking about returning to defend [her title] in Paris.
“At the end of the day I love it, I enjoy it, and I know Paris is my final Olympics.
“The ambition is to win a medal. We’ve done all I can in my training to get me there.
“My performances [since returning to action] have given me and my coaching team a lot of hope.”
In 2018 – the year she won gold at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, and the World Triathlon Series Bermuda – Duffy established the Flora Fund to support young Bermudian athletes.
Three years later, Gosling’s Limited announced its support of the Fund by creating the Flora Gold Endowment Fund.
Gosling’s also launched Flora Duffy Gold rum, donating $5 to the Fund for every bottle sold, and have since raised around $30,000 to help young athletes chase their dreams.
“It’s been awesome to help so many young Bermudian athletes,” Duffy said of her Fund. “That’s a huge part of my legacy and hopefully I’ll focus on it more post-racing.”
