(CMC) – Bermuda’s Olympic champion Flora Duffy got her World Triathlon Championship Series title defence off to the ideal start by holding off three Britons to win the women’s race on Friday.
In her first return to competitive action since winning on her Super League debut in Malibu, California in September, the 34-year-old showed no signs of loss of form with a dominant display on the challenging Yas Marina Formula 1 circuit.
The performance came despite Duffy’s return to Bermuda last month for week-long celebrations, which included a one-off national holiday to mark her Tokyo victory in July.
Duffy, who earned Bermuda’s first-ever gold medal by winning the triathlon in this summer’s Olympics, completed the sprint distance of 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and five-kilometre run in 55 minutes 42 seconds.
“It was a really hard race,” said Duffy, who was pushed hard on the final lap of the run by a resurgent Georgia Taylor-Brown, also runner-up to the Bermudian in Tokyo.
“Coming into the race I didn’t really know what to expect because over the past few weeks my world has been turned upside down with everything that has been going on since the Olympics.
“I really had to fight for it and use all of my experience and tactics to eventually get the win.
“I knew Georgia would come through on the run because she is such a classy athlete. It was a case of trying to stretch her on the downhill sections to try and break down her confidence a little.
“In that last 800 [metres] I went as hard as I could and at the end. I couldn’t even lift the finishing banner because I just think I’m physically and emotionally exhausted. I’m just so happy this year is done,” added Duffy, a three-time world champion, who divides her time between Bermuda, her training camp in Boulder, Colorado, and South Africa – her husband Dan Hugo’s home country.
Duffy held off a strong challenge from Taylor-Brown (55:53) whose compatriot Sophie Coldwell (56:11) completed the podium places. Another Briton, Jessica Learmonth, was fourth in 56:27. Forty-three women finished the course.
