Flora Duffy says her triumph at the Karlovy Vary ITU Triathlon World Cup event in the Czech Republic last weekend has sent her confidence soaring.

Duffy, competing over the Olympic distance for the first time this season, blitzed one of the strongest World Cup fields in recent memory to claim her first title at this level in nearly three years.

“I’m just so thrilled to win, it has been a while since I’ve done it at this level and it’s a huge confidence boost and something I feel personally I’ve really needed,” Duffy told TRI247.com.

The two-times champion crossed the line in a time of 2hr 5min 17sec.

Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, the newly crowned World Champion, finished second in 2:06.54 and Holland’s Maya Kingma in third in 2:07.07 to round off the podium.

“It was so hard, man that was a shock to the system,” Duffy added. “A first Olympic distance of the year and on such a challenging course and with such a stacked field. Jess [Jessica Learmonth] is unbelievable in the swim and I was just trying to recover from that for most of the bike to be honest, which isn’t easy on this type of course.

“I wanted to ride strong but not overextend myself and the run just felt like survival.”

Duffy took the tape for the first time in a World Triathlon race in 2½ years with a dominant display which proved beyond doubt that her troubles with a career-threatening foot injury are well and truly behind her.

“This one means a lot,” she posted on her Twitter account. “First time standing on top of a @worldtriathlon podium since 2018.

“Thanks to the team who got me back. It has been a journey!”

Duffy has produced podium displays in her first two appearances on the ITU World Cup circuit this season, having earned the silver medal the Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon on her return to action this month after ten months out.