Dame Flora Duffy finds herself in an unfamiliar position of being an underdog as she aims to cause an upset in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship on Friday.

Despite having won just about every title within the sport, including the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, World Triathlon Series Championships and XTERRA World Championships, the 35-year-old will not be considered among the favourites in a star-studded field of middle-distance specialists in St George, Utah.

But having been handed the opportunity to take on a new challenge after accepting a wild-card entry, Duffy, undoubtedly one of short-course triathlon’s most dominant forces ever, can never be overlooked, despite being less than convincing her middle-distance outings this year in the Collins Cup and PTO US Open, in which she finished sixth.

Worthy of consideration in the conversation of potential winners, particularly in the absence of 70.3 World Championship podium finishers Daniela Ryf, Anne Haug and Laura Philipp, as well as Ironman World champion Chelsea Sodaro, Duffy faces stiff competition from a number of rivals.

Defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay, despite a disrupted year through injuries, will take great confidence from a second-place finish in the Ironman World Championship earlier this month.

Another potential contender is Taylor Knibb, who finished third last year, but like Charles-Barclay has seen her racing limited this season due to injury.

However, a morale boosting second-place finish in the World Triathlon Championship Series Cagliari this month, having outsprinted Emma Lombardi, came at the ideal time.

Other notable entrants include Holly Lawrence, Emma Pallant-Browne and Paula Findlay.

A former champion in 2016, Lawrence added a silver medal at Nice in 2019 before finishing eighth last year. As well as training alongside Duffy in recent months, she has also been in promising form with a win at the Collins Cup and fourth at the PTO US Open in Dallas.

Despite not competing internationally since finishing second at the World Long Distance Championships in late August, Pallant-Browne could prove an outsider for the podium places, particularly having enjoyed a prolonged period of distraction-free preparation.

One final surprise challenger could be Findlay, who despite fading to ultimately finish tenth in Dallas, has shown her pedigree this season with a second-place finish PTO Canadian Open in Edmonton on home soil, while also cruising to victory in her Collins Cup match-up.