Flora Duffy returned to her roots yesterday to sprinkle some stardust on Warwick Academy.

The school held ‘Flora Duffy Day’ in honour of her career achievements, which last month culminated in the 27-year-old winning the Xterra World Championship in Maui, Hawaii.

Bermuda’s first professional triathlon world champion was invited to speak at morning assembly, where she described to students what it felt like to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition.

Duffy, who is now based in Colorado, United States, then presented GCSE certificates before holding a talk alongside Dan Hugo, her boyfriend and fellow triathlete from South Africa, with the school’s budding triathletes.

She says that after the euphoria of winning the world title, her accomplishment has only truly sunk in now she is back home.

“It definitely does really seem that I am world champ,” she said.

“A lot more people seem to recognise me or are excited for me and reach out and say congratulations if I’m walking down the street or stop me in a restaurant.

“It’s really cool that so many people have taken an interest here in Bermuda.”

Duffy, who also won the Asia-Pacific Championships and the South African Championships this season as well as finishing eighth at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, not only talked about the good times but also touched on the lows of her eventful career to date.

After bursting on to the international scene as a teenager at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, she failed to finish in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and had to deal with a mystery illness that sapped her energy.

There was also a brutal bike crash outside Buckingham Palace at the London 2012 Olympics that ended her race and, she admitted, took her a long time to get over.

But after graduating from University with a degree in Sociology last year, Duffy turned professional and was able to focus on triathlon full time.

The results have been exceptional and in the Xterra off-road series, she has undoubtedly found a discipline that, unbeknown to her when she started, suits her down to the ground.

Despite all the success, she never dreamed that one day her old school would give her such a welcome.

“I never thought I would be back here for a Flora Duffy day,” she said. “It’s pretty cool that they’ve made a big deal out of it.

“I’m proud to have gone to Warwick Academy and really enjoyed my time here so it’s nice to come back and see that they are all still following my career.

“I hope I can inspire a few other Warwick Academy kids to get into triathlon or pursue whatever sport they are into.”

She added: “My parents do tell me of the interest back home but I never know if that’s just their circle of friends!

“Now that I’m hearing stories from them and from my brothers [Joel and Campbell] that people that you would not expect to follow you do. So yeah, it’s hitting home that people do follow me.”

Duffy admitted taking assembly was a “surreal” experience but was delighted to share the moment with Charlie and Maria, her parents, and Hugo.

“It was really cool to have them there — they are very supportive.

She added: “It was a little nerve-racking but through the races I’ve won this year you always have to give a speech at the end and in Maui I had to do quite a few and I’ve done quite a few interviews recently so I’m getting comfortable with it.”

And her advice to wannabe young Bermudian athletes?

“You have to be persistent and you have to dedicated. There are going to be times of doubt where you were wishing you were doing other things but remember this is what you love and what you want to do.

“Any big goal is worthy of a few sacrifices here and there.”