A little more than two years after securing the 35th America’s Cup, Bermuda has again punched above its weight by securing three stops on the International Triathlon Union World Triathlon Series — but the 2020 Grand Final has gone to Edmonton.

The announcement was made yesterday by Senator Michael Fahy, the Minister of Tourism, Transport and Municipalities, who was part of a bid team that was headed by Flora Duffy, Bermuda’s very own world champion.

Bermuda will host events in 2018, 2019 and 2020 at the start of the triathlon season, with April being the target date. Thousands of athletes are expected to descend upon the island for each of the events, accompanied by friends and family, and a significant media presence.

Bermuda, which saw off Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco in December 2014 for the right to stage the oldest competition in international sport, this time was pipped by a city that has previous experience of hosting the event in 2001 and 2014, and which was narrowly beaten by Lausanne for the 2019 Grand Final.

Duffy, just off her best season as a professional triathlete, having won three world titles across different formats, was joined in Madrid for the bid by Phillip Schmidt, a media consultant, and Christian Toetzke, a marketing executive.

Mr Fahy was in Madrid for the preliminary stages of the bid presented to the ITU Executive Board, which had congregated at the Meliá Castilla hotel for the 29th ITU Congress, before returning to the island on Saturday to report on developments to Cabinet.

There, he will have entered select company with another to have delivered Bermuda a marquee event — Grant Gibbons, the Minister of Economic Development, whose counsel was sought in the build-up to the bid.

“Bermuda’s winning bid for the America’s Cup, its stellar performance during the America’s Cup World Series, plus its emergence as a premier sports and adventure playground has made us a formidable player in these discussions,” Dr Gibbons told The Royal Gazette last month when the bid was announced.

“As always, Bermuda is punching way above its weight on the global events stage.”

• For full statements from Senator Michael Fahy and from Pat Philip-Fairn, of the Bermuda Tourism Authority, click on the PDF links under “Related Media”