Dame Flora Duffy has spoken about how her life exploded after winning at the Tokyo Olympics in a new documentary.

Duffy is one of eight athletes featured in Dare To Dream, an eight-part documentary produced by World Triathlon, with episodes released twice weekly.

In the series opener, Duffy talks about her upbringing in Bermuda and her experiences, good and bad, at the Olympics and the fallout from her win in Tokyo in 2021.

“It’s crazy what happens after,” Duffy said.

“You don’t think about it as all you think about is performing in the race, executing and crossing that finish line.

“But after it my life exploded, obviously because I was the first Olympic gold medal-winner from Bermuda, so that really took off. Then everyone back home really celebrated it. There was a public holiday, a parade and it was just this weeklong celebration.

“Of course, you get nice commemorative products from your sponsors, gold shoes, an Olympic-gold bike. It's amazing but also overwhelming as you’re trying to process this amazing life event but all this other stuff is coming at you. It’s really special.”

Duffy is a four-times Olympian with her success in Tokyo coming 13 years after her debut in Beijing but it has not been a trouble-free journey with Duffy revealing her sadness after failing to finish in China.

“I had my first Olympic experience in Beijing in 2008,” Duffy said.

“I was 20 and it was a tough experience for me. On one hand it was great to go to the Olympics but on the other hand I completely wan’t prepared.

“I burst on to the scene the year before and had some success but was then having a pretty rough time with triathlon as I went into Beijing. I was in over my head and ended up DNFing [did not finish].

“It was a tough experience, being 20 and not having the support around me at that time to handle and navigate those emotions, so I ended up taking a two-year break from the sport, but that’s what happens when you go to these major events, you learn a lot about yourself.”

Upon her return, Duffy embarked on her inexorable rise up the triathlon ranks and revealed the pressures she felt going into Rio in 2016 and Tokyo as a genuine contender for a medal.

“Rio was a great learning experience to be in that group of women who have that potential to win a medal,” Duffy said.

“I was definitely more of a dark horse. I could shake up the race and steal the race away from the runners as at the time my strength was definitely swim and bike. I was ranked No 1 in the world going into it and six weeks out from the Games, boom, I was being talked about to win a medal.

“So I went through that experience and going into Tokyo I had five years, because it was postponed, but ten days out from the race I was finishing my racing and everything started clicking and I just realised, wow, that it’s all come together.

“I knew something could happen in the race that was out of my control but I knew I had the ability to do it and that was the moment I thought that I could be Bermuda’s first Olympic gold medal-winner, but you don’t really believe it until you cross the line.

“I led the entire run and I ran the last 5K by myself. I’ve led a lot of races and won a lot of races, but this was the one time I thought, ‘Wow, Flora, you’re leading the Olympics, don’t mess this up and keep yourself together’. It’s not until you cross that line and you’re like, ‘Wow, I did it’.

With the athletes featured in the documentary coming from more populous countries such as Britain, United States, Australia, Brazil, Duffy also talks about coming from Bermuda and her dreams as a child.

“I’m naturally a very competitive person and have been since a very young age,” Duffy said.

“I can remember myself saying at a pretty young age that I want to be a world champion and an Olympic medal-winner. I guess people were taken aback a bit by a young girl from a tiny island telling people that’s what I was going to do, but years later I did it.”