An emotional Dame Flora Duffy has spoken of her pride after finishing a valiant fifth in her final Olympic Games triathlon in Paris.

Duffy gave it her all from the start and the 36-year-old champion from the Tokyo Games three years ago gave fleeting hope that she could repeat that feat when she led the 55-strong field after the swim leg in the River Seine.

But the rigours of the past 18 months, during which she contemplated retirement with a dogged injury, proved impossible to overcome on the greatest stage — an acceptance that was obvious early on the run when a four-woman breakaway made a place on the podium a forlorn hope.

To Duffy’s credit, she soldiered on largely in isolation, with only Tokyo silver medal-winner Georgia Taylor-Brown, of Britain, in the vicinity.

Rather than look back, Duffy’s focus was forward but her cadence was unable to reel in a group led by home favourite Cassandre Beaugrand, who broke the tape in 1hr 54min 55sec to provide France its first Olympic triathlon champion.

The silver medal went to Julie Derron, of Switzerland, in 1:55:01 and Beth Potter, of Britain, was third in 1:55:10.

Duffy finished in 1:56:12, with fellow Bermudian Erica Hawley, in her debut Olympics, 41st of the 51 finishers in 2:02:55.

After gathering her thoughts post-race, Duffy spoke to The Royal Gazette to reflect on the race and her Olympic legacy.

“It’s been a very special journey and it feels surreal that it coming to an end today,” Duffy said.

“There were so many Bermuda flags here today and so many friends and family that have come to watch me and it was special to end my Olympic campaign with so many people here to support me and who have supported me along the way.”

Duffy was still in contention heading into the run but was a little disappointed with that finishing effort

“It was a big stretch for me to get here as fit as I was and to finish fifth, but of course I wanted a medal and I believed I could get it, but I didn’t show my run ability.

“It failed me, which was a little disappointing but at the same time even if I was running with that front group, you never really know how that final kilometre will go. It would have been nice to run a bit better but I was really pleased with how I attacked the race and the whole journey to get here

“My training showed that I was in better form than what I displayed today, particularly on the run. I don’t know if a few more months of training would have helped but maybe you could argue the lack of racing is a factor.

“That’s a very specific stimulus and you can only get that by racing and since I’ve only been able to race twice in 18 months, maybe that was lacking. In the triathlon being able to be really good across three sports in one day can be hard to nail and I just didn’t run as well as I wanted today.”

After more than two decades of chasing her Olympic dreams, Duffy can look back with a sense of pride on her achievements and that she was joined in the triathlon today by compatriots Tyler Smith and Erica Hawley

“The five Olympics shows my development in the sport and I’ve also grown as a person as well,” Duffy said.

“Each Games has been its own experience and at each one I’ve learnt something along the way.

“I’m very proud to have been to five Olympics and this time it was special to have Tyler Smith and Erica Hawley racing. That is special for Bermuda to have three athletes in one sport competing at the same Olympic Games.

“There are lots of things I’m proud of through this Olympic campaign, of course the peak was Tokyo, but there was so much I had to get through to be on the start line in Paris.”

While Duffy’s legacy will echo for ever in Bermuda as the first winner of an Olympic gold medal, it is not just this small island that she is inspiring.

“The most meaningful thing of this whole journey is to see what the sport of triathlon is doing in Bermuda and seeing the excitement of the kids that are getting into the sport and taking part in the local races,” Duffy said

“Any kids in sport believing that they can go to the Olympics and place on the podium is the bigger picture and legacy that I am proud of leaving and helping to create.

“A girl racing here from Guam came to me and said, ‘Flora, it’s just so incredible how you’ve done this from a small country’. I thought that was just so special that people in other small countries are seeing my success and thinking that they can do it, too.

“Obviously, it’s most impactful when people from Bermuda think they can go on to perform well at the Olympics but it’s broader than that. Lots of athletes in small countries see it and that is wonderful.”

The end of the Olympics does not mean the end of Duffy’s triathlon career and she harbours no thoughts of completely calling it a day.

“I have no thoughts of retiring just yet but I will be moving on to some long-course racing for the remaining months of the year,” Duffy said.

“I will next race in September so I will take a few weeks to assess what direction I want to go in but my career will pivot to long course.”

Final women’s results

Final men’s results