Flora Duffy is a living legend. A trailblazer. A history-making athlete who fundamentally changed the sport of triathlon by fearlessly racing off the front, dictating the terms in ways the rest of the pack feared. Every superlative, she’s earned many times over, through tremendous grit and determination, and exceptional kindness and generosity.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – her 4th of 5 Olympic games – she won. It was the first-ever Olympic gold medal in any sport for her home country of Bermuda. The island honored her with a national holiday, renaming a stadium after her, and featuring Flora on postage stamps.
She is the only athlete to ever win an Olympic gold medal and a World Championship title in the same year – one of four World Triathlon Champion titles to her name, the only woman to earn that many. She won two Commonwealth gold medals, and she excelled off-road, too, becoming the only athlete ever to win six XTERRA World Championships.
For her incredible achievements – and for her exceptional contribution to the sport – she received British damehood. Her Flora Fund, established in 2018, helps aspiring young Bermudian athletes go after their dreams.
Flora is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of all time.
We caught up with Flora just after she announced her retirement, a decision that came naturally, over time. “My body’s given me quite a lot,” she says. “It was telling me the time has come to an end.”
That doesn’t mean it was an easy choice.
“It feels so surreal that I did that, and that chapter of my life is ending,” she said. “It’s been a huge part of my life, and my dream since I was little was to race as a professional triathlete. To be able to do that, and to be able to achieve all of the things that I have achieved, and now closing that chapter feels really special. I’m really grateful. Full of emotions.”
The day she announced her retirement on social media, she was overwhelmed by the comments, in particular the kind comments of her peers. From Lucy Charles-Barclay to Jan Frodeno, Mirinda Carfrae to Holly Lawrence. It’s clear she inspired them all, not only through her fearless racing, but through her humility and kindness.
Below, she shares a few of the moments that stood out to her most from her 30+ years of racing.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games
“I was only 18 at the time. It was my first elite / professional race, standing on the starting line with some of the absolute greats of the sport. My first time racing at that level. Racing for Bermuda, at the Commonwealth Games – it’s a really big thing! And Commonwealth countries are really strong at triathlon. So it was just such a big moment, and I had a great race. That kicked off what became my career.”
Jr. World Champs 2006
“That same year, I was second at the Junior World Championships. Those two races, at that time – you know when you’re growing up, you want to believe you can race at that level. Those two races really proved to me that I could. I had what it took, and I could race as a professional athlete. Those are really cool core memories.”
Cozumel Grand Final 2016
“That was a huge moment for me. Going in, I was the underdog. I was battling Gwen Jorgensen for the title, she’d just won Olympic gold in Rio. No one was really expecting me to pull it off and actually win the world title, and I did, and it was just a crazy, crazy moment for me. One that really sticks out amongst everything else.”
Training Days with Friends
“Honestly, some of the mundane, bigger training days I’ve done with friends, training partners, you’re just getting the work done, it’s nothing fancy, but just good old-fashioned hard work and really enjoying the grind of it all. Particularly leading into the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, I was training with two good friends, and it was a really great, special time. There was a lot of pressure and expectation on me, and it really just turned into a fun and meaningful time.
2014 XTERRA World Championships
“The first year I won! It was cool because Dan (Hugo, husband) was still racing that year, and he’s one of the big reasons I got into racing XTERRA. We got to race XTERRA Worlds in Maui together, and that was really special.”
Finally, Flora has some wisdom for athletes who dream of following in her footsteps. To little girls with big goals:
“I’d tell her to always keep believing in herself. Surround yourself with fun people that always keep whatever hard work you’re doing fun. That’s very, very important to keep it fun.
The journey’s gonna have lots of ups, lots of downs. Probably more downs than ups. That’s OK, that’s part of the journey. But you’re going to learn a lot more about yourself in those downs than in the ups. That’s important.
And it’ll be a great and wild ride. But it’s all worth it. Even when you’re doubting yourself and don’t know what you should do. Keep moving forward and keep believing in yourself.”
The ROKA team is so lucky to have gotten to work with Flora over the past 11 years. She’s the true embodiment of redefining the standard. We're grateful for all she's given the sport, and excited for what comes next.
Header photo credit: Wagner Araujo
Story photo credit: Nils Nilsen
