Flora Duffy made Olympic history on Tuesday, winning the women’s triathlon in Tokyo to give the tiny island of Bermuda their first-ever gold medal.
The 33-year-old timed 1hr 55min 36sec to come home more than a minute ahead of Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown (1:56.50), with American Katie Zaferes (1:57.03) taking the bronze.
Duffy’s success makes Bermuda the smallest nation in terms of population — around 70,000 — to ever win a medal at a Summer Games.
For Duffy it was a welcome reward after persistent injuries and a diagnosis of anaemia in 2013.
She quit the sport after failing to finish the event at the 2008 Beijing Games and started working in a shop in Bermuda before eventually returning to the sport after studying for a degree.
In a race delayed by 15 minutes because of slippery conditions following heavy overnight rain, Duffy took control in the final running section.
She had opened up a lead of almost a minute after the first of four laps and was never under threat from then on.
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