Flora Duffy Wins Cross Triathlon World Championships on Maui

Duffy's win in Maui doesn't come as a surprise. After dominating the Cross Triathlon USA series and her third place finish at the World Championships last year, Duffy lined-up as one of the favorites for the 2014 title.

The Bermuda Olympian exited the choppy sea only a few seconds after the leading woman Nicky Samuels. Despite losing some time in transition, Duffy passed Samuels in the first kilometer of the challenging mountain bike course. In a technical section around the 12k mark, Duffy crashed heavily and at first wasn't sure whether she d' be able to continue. "I flipped over the handle bars and landed on my head," the SCOTT athlete said after the race. "It took me a few moments to gather myself then I had to deal with a mechanical issue as a result of the crash. I was fortunate that I came out of the crash without any serious issues and that I didn't get passed by any of the chasing women.” Despite the early crash, Duffy posted the fastest mountain bike split in the women's field and led the race out of T2 with a solid advantage.

Focusing on her nutrition plan and with more running miles in the bank than last year when the Bermudan's preparation was impaired by a foot injury, Duffy managed to keep the fast runners at bay during the demanding trail run. Although strong Chilean runner Riveros gained 55 seconds on Duffy on the closing 10k run, the eventual winner held on to a 2:05 minute advantage on runner up Riveros. “This was huge for me and my country,” said a happy Duffy after crossing the finish line and realizing what she just had accomplished for the small nation of Bermuda.