She couldn?t pull off another miracle by placing in the top ten for the second World Cup event in a row, but teenage triathlon sensation Flora Duffy still had plenty to be smile about on Saturday after a 19th-place finish in Beijing.

The 18-year-old admitted just before the flight to China a week ago that she was feeling a little jaded after a long but successful season which has seen her place eighth in the Commonwealth Games in March and ninth in a World Cup event in Hamburg two weeks? ago.

But on the same course on which the Olympics will be contested in just under two years? time, the Bermudian got off to an uncharacteristically sluggish start on the 1.5 kilometre swim, emerging near the back of the 58-woman field, which left her chances of equalling or bettering her Hamburg finish all but gone.

Duffy completed the race, which as with all Olympic-standard events also involved a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run, in a time of two hours, eight minutes and 19 seconds ? just under four and a half minutes slower than winner and world number one Vanessa Fernandez of Portugal.

Afterwards, a slightly disappointed Duffy admitted her swim had been below-par.

?The swim did not go as planned,? she said.

?I was hoping to come out in at least the second pack but I was one of the last packs out of the water, which doesn?t usually happen. I had an okay start but I just couldn?t get going. My transition from the water onto the bike was good and I worked well with the pack on the bike, we caught up the third pack, and then caught the second so it became one big second pack.

?I came off the bike and had another good transition into the run and just went for it ? I knew I had to go out hard in order to catch up with as many people as possible and I?m reasonably happy with a 19th place finish given that I was near the rear after the swim.

?But this has been a great opportunity to race on the Olympic course for Beijing 2008 ? I can take a lot of information away from this race and think about things I need to work on.?

Duffy now returns to the UK to resume training and her studies at Kelly College in Devon and will compete in one or two more minor races before the end of the year.