Flora Duffy: Bermuda's first-ever Olympic champion on her 'miracle' comeback ahead of Paris 2024
Competing in the triathlon is all about going the distance, and few know that better than reigning Olympic champion Flora Duffy.
When a long-term knee injury kept her sidelined for 18 months, retirement became a real possibility for the 36-year-old.
But recovery became a marathon, not a sprint, and just when she thought about calling time on a glittering career, things began looking up.
Now, after playing the ultimate waiting game, she looks set to defend her title at Paris 2024.
It is a story of real strength and determination – one Duffy isn’t done writing just yet.
Flora Duffy: Fighting back from the brink of retirement
Flora Duffy didn’t compete in a single race for the entirety of 2023, such was the severity of her knee injury.
Prevented from doing the thing she knows best, thoughts of retirement crept in.
“There were some extremely low days through this entire process,” she admitted to the Chasing the Burn podcast.
“I definitely said I should retire quite a lot.
“Even if it may not have had real meaning behind it, at the back of my mind as this went on I thought this could be the one injury that I can’t heal, that this might be it.”
Duffy was adamant not to give into the voice in her head telling her it was time to take a step back, but she also had to be realistic.
Then came hope.
In December 2023, the Bermuda-born athlete paid a visit to a doctor who gave her a ‘miracle’.
“I went to see a doctor to see if my knee had improved, because I was at the point of retiring,” she recounted.
“To me it felt like a miracle because he gave me an injection and two days later all of the residue pain had gone.
“By this point it had been a year of severe knee pain and in my mind, it felt like this was the rapid decline of my career.
“I knew with my knee that I couldn’t get too excited, but it definitely gave me some hope for the first time in a long time.”
Not only did it give Duffy some optimism going forward, but she is now no longer bound to the sidelines. Instead she has set her sights on Paris 2024.
Bermuda's first-ever Olympic champion, Flora Duffy.
Bermuda’s history-maker
There have only ever been two Olympic medallists from Bermuda.
Clarence Hill was the first, winning bronze in men’s heavyweight boxing at Montreal 1976.
45 years later, Duffy became the second when topped the podium at the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021.
Despite being eligible to represent Team GB, Bermuda is where her heart is.
“I hold dual nationality of British-Bermudian, but I’m born and raised in Bermuda - that’s where my heart lies,” she said.
“There would have been a lot more funding and support if I had chosen to represent Britain.
“But being with Bermuda, I was allowed to forge my own path, go through ups and downs, and take some time off sport to allow myself to develop as the racer that I am.
“I had to do what my heart said and, truthfully, crossing the line for Bermuda has always been the most special.”
Representing her island in another Olympics would be special too.