Flora Duffy's concerned father has shed new light on the reasons behind her drastic loss of form and confessed that the troubled triathlete harbours no real aspirations at the Olympics.

According to Charlie Duffy, his daughter is now paying the price for pushing her body to the limit when she was taking the triathlon world by storm and believes her alarming slump is showing no signs of abating.

Duffy suffered the latest in a long line of setbacks at the weekend with the 20-year-old failing to finish her final pre-Games race – the National Elite Championships in Wales – due to fatigue.

So far it has proved to be a second sombre season on the international circuit for the Paget-born youngster who has been unable to rediscover the mesmerising form of her debut campaign following a series of worrying race withdrawals.

"I'm not confident at all going into the Olympics," said Charlie. "You have to be realistic and say that Flora is nowhere near back to her best – that's demonstrated in the times she's been producing.

"I've spoken to the experts and they've tried to explain to me in layman's terms why her form has suffered so much.

"They say she was pushing her body too hard when things were going well for her and now her body's protesting. It's quite normal for triathletes to push themselves to the limit and it's probably not a healthy way of life.

"She's still very young and according to the experts it could take a long time to convince her body that it's okay to be pushed to the limit again."

Duffy has endured a torrid time since May 2007 when she started her second season with a career-best fifth place finish in the Lisbon World Cup BG.

However, the former Warwick Academy student has still managed to perform well enough to qualify for the Olympics in her own right, and did not require the wild card offered to her by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Despite her year-long ordeal, Charlie said his daughter remained "amazingly upbeat" ahead of the Games and was looking forward to being apart of sport's most historic and emotive event.

"Flora was feeling tired in her last race and her coach said there was no point killing herself before Beijing, that's why she withdrew," he said. "She's still amazingly upbeat considering her recent performances and is really looking forward to the Olympics.

"It has been very difficult for Flora. Poor race times produce negative thoughts and then it seems so much worse when she suffers from bad luck like falling off her bike.

"But the Olympics will be a great experience for her and to be honest it's a bit of a bonus as London 2012 has always been the main focus. I'm confident that in time Flora will return to her best form."

Duffy's triathlon finishes since May, 2007

May '07 BG Triathlon World Cup, Lisbon, Portugal – 5th

June '07 BG Triathlon World Cup, Madrid, Spain – DNF

June '07 BG Triathlon World Cup, Des Moines, USA – 24th

July '07 Pan-Am Games, Rio, Brazil – 12th

July '07 BG Triathlon World Cup, Salford, England – 49th

September '07 World Championships, Hamburg, Germany – DNF

October '07 BG Triathlon World Cup, Rhodes, Greece – 43rd

May '08 - BG Triathlon World Cup, Richards Bay, South Africa – DNF

June '08 - Under-23 World Championships, Vancouver, Canada – 17th

July '08 - World Championships, Hamburg – 19th

July '08 - National Elite Championships, Tredegar, Wales – DNF