Triathlete Flora Duffy’s Swift Victory Makes Bermuda the Smallest Country Ever to Win a Gold at the Summer Olympics

Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.

-Ross Perot

Born in 1987, Flora Duffy is a Bermudian Triathlete. She began the sport at age 7 in Bermuda and competed in her first international competition at the ITU Junior Triathlon World Championship in 2006 where she came second. Since then, Duffy has won the 2016 and 2017 ITU World Triathlon Series World Champion, the 2015 and 2016 ITU Cross Triathlon World Champion, and is a five-time winner (2014-2017, 2019) of the XTERRA World Championships.

She is the only person to win three triathlon world titles in the same year in 2016, claiming the WTS, ITU Cross Triathlon and Xterra titles in close succession. She is also the only triathlete in WTS history to post the fastest swim, bike and run portions in the same race. Her list of victories is all the more impressive having overcome multiple foot, knee and wrist injuries throughout her career. She has undergone two surgeries and had to wear a treatment boot for weeks due to a foot injury that made her miss several months of training even after which she qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She has suffered from an eating disorder and depression back in 2006 that caused fatigue due to which she had to withdraw from the 2008 Olympic games.

After that, she quit the sport and began working in a shop in Bermuda. She came back to the sport after finishing a sociology degree and resolving her eating issues, says the International Olympic Committee.  

Duffey possesses dual nationality of Bermuda and the United Kingdom due to the fact that her country is a British overseas territory. When she was a teenager, the British Olympic Team attempted to recruit her with the incentive of more resources and money. However, Duffy stood strong for her small country saying she never felt tempted by their offer she told The Guardian.

In 2018, Flora Duffy received the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to triathlon in Bermuda and the world.

Her golden victory at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the triathlon event marked her first Olympic medal and made Bermuda, with its population of 62,000, the smallest country in the world to win a gold at the Summer Olympics. A woman of great resilience, passion, dedication and patriotism, Flora Duffy has continued to persevere despite her mental, emotional and physical challenges, has made her nation proud with her outstanding victory that has amazed and inspired athletes worldwide. 

#GCPWishesFloraDuffy #GCPAWishesOlympians

Team Global Child Prodigy Congratulates Flora Duffy for winning Gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This will inspire millions of people worldwide, including children who aspire to be like her. 

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