Young Flora Duffy pulled off another sensational result over the weekend ? finishing ninth in the Hamburg World Cup Triathlon to yet again underline her status as a budding superstar of the sport.

The 19-year-old has been defying expectations all year, but never more so than on Sunday in Germany where she was easily the youngest top-ten finisher amid a field boasting the cr?me de la cr?me of professional female triathletes.

Having struggled with the ferocity of the swim in her first World Cup race in Salford, England ? where she finished 24th overall and was kicked and shoved almost to the point of drowning in the frenetic early stages ? Duffy knew the key to doing well lay in a fast start.

And the young Bermudian certainly produced the goods, eventually emerging from the 1.5 kilometre swim in eighth place and only eight seconds behind the leader.

For the 40-kilometre bike ride, Duffy was content to stay some way back from the race leaders in the chasing pack, completing the second stage in one hour, one minute and 58 seconds and conserving her energy for a big push on the run.

Sitting in eleventh as she dismounted the bike in the transition area, Duffy stayed in that position for most of the ten-kilometre run before out-sprinting American Sarah Haskins and Japan?s Ai Ueda in the closing stages to complete the final discipline in 34 minutes and 11 seconds and the race overall in 1:55.47.

The triathlon was won by world number one Vanessa Fernandez of Portugal ? who crossed the line just over two minutes ahead of the Bermudian to complete her eleventh straight World Cup victory.

Duffy?s performance came just a week after she claimed the silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, having earlier this year also placed in the top ten at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

?What happened out there was absolutely incredible,? said Flora?s dad Charles Duffy yesterday, whose flight back to Bermuda was cancelled because of Hurricane Florence.

?None of us could believe how well she had done ? least of all her ? and afterwards Flora was wandering around with this smile on her face and saying ?What on earth happened out there??

?After the swim she was in about seventh or eighth and it was pretty clear from right then that something pretty special was going on.

?The result has caused quite a stir. For somebody of her age to be placing in the top ten in a World Cup event is very, very rare and I?m enormously proud of what she?s achieved.?

Though the official standings have not yet been updated on the International Triathlon Union?s website, Duffy said his daughter now lies 42nd overall in the World Cup rankings ? well inside the top 65 where she has to finish in order to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

And he is extremely optimistic about her prospects of making it to the most important event in the sport.

?Given her age, the fact that she comes from such a small country and that she has placed in the top ten in a World Cup event, regardless of what happens from here I cannot see any reason why she will not be in Beijing,? he said.

Now back at school in the UK, Duffy actually flies to the upcoming Olympics host city next week to compete in yet another World Cup event.

But after that, her father is hoping she can benefit from an extended period of rest and reflection and is wary of the danger of too much early success.

?She is still young ? very young in fact ? and things are going on at an unbelievable pace for her and it is important that she does not get burned out,? he said.