Flora Duffy created history at the Tokyo Olympics as she won the gold medal at the Olympic women’s triathlon. She became the first player from Bermuda to win an Olympic gold medal. This was also Bermuda’s first medal in the Olympic games since 1976. Boxer Clarence HillBermuda was the previous Olympic medallist for Bermuda.
I think the whole Bermuda is going crazy, that’s what makes it so special. It’s been a heck of a lot of pressure. I would never recommend being an Olympic favourite for five years. But it is all worth it now.
The 33-year-old Duffy crossed the 56-woman field with a time of 1:55:36 to clinched the gold in her fourth Olympic appearance, finishing over one minute ahead of the silver medalist. Georgia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain finished second. Katie Zaferes, world champion in 2019, won bronze for the United States.
Flora Duffy: Journey at the Olympics
And what makes this win more special for Duffy is that she entered the race without a coach. Duffy is a two-time former world triathlon series champion. She was also a gold medalist of the World Triathlon Series in 2016 and 2017 and won a silver medal in 2020. Duffy won the first Gold medal of the XXI Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Flora Duffy was competing in her fourth Olympics. She was lapped in 2008, finished 45th in 2012, and came very close to winning a medal in 2016. And at the Tokyo Olympics, She became the first Bermudian to win both world & Olympic titles. Duffy also holds the record for the largest winning margin in both Olympic and Sprint distance races in a WTS event.
Bermuda became the least-populous nation to win a summer Olympic gold. The Premier of Bermuda, David Burt sent his congratulations through a tweet saying: “You’ve worked so hard and you’ve made an entire island proud!”