Bermuda gets ready to party like it’s 2018

by Doug Gray on 01 Nov, 2022 11:02 • Español

Buckle up Bermuda – there’s an almighty race blowing into town!

It may feel like a lifetime ago, but the inaugural Series event in Bermuda back in 2018 was one of the all-time classics. Hometown hero Flora Duffy was the reigning World Champion for the second year in a row, huge billboards of her were put up all over Hamilton, the red carpet was rolled out and it felt like the entire island had turned out to cheer home their local legend.

“(The first) WTS Bermuda was crazy,” Duffy recalled. “I remember growing up that there was a World Cup in Bermuda in the ‘90s… to take it 20 years later and there I am as multiple World Champion… it was a pretty strange, surreal moment to be standing there as the star of the race. And to produce the race I did, I couldn’t ask for anything better. The crowd.. the atmosphere… to me It felt kind of intimate. The island is so small it felt like everyone had a connection to me in one way or another.”

Winning by a margin of almost two minutes, Duffy produced a performance to match the occasion, able to grab the Bermuda flag and soak up every drop of the electrifying atmosphere that swept her down the blue carpet.

Injury cut short her title challenge that year, though, and 12 months later there was the immense disappointment of missing out on the 2019 race as the recovery stalled. Now, the 2022 race is a chance to obliterate any lingering memories of that time, and she returns as the island’s first Olympic Champion in any sport, a two-time Commonwealth Games champion and chasing a record fourth world title.

But it wasn’t just Flora delivering Bermuda some triathlon magic back in 2018. The Norwegian men had a few ideas of their own to bring the drama, and as Casper Stornes bravely broke clear on the bike and then ran solo for 10km to the tape, so Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden followed, the first ever podium sweep in a men’s Series race.

A year later and Iden and Blummenfelt were again in contention in the men’s race but it was a returning Javier Gomez in the spotlight, the Spanish legend eventually coming out second best behind France’s Dorian Coninx as he surged up the final hill to the line.

Meanwhile the USA’s Katie Zaferes had delivered a Duffy-esque display to win the women’s race by over 90 seconds. That gold followed a first Series win in Abu Dhabi and set her on the way to Zaferes’ first world title.

With just two races left of the 2022 Series, Duffy knows that doing the same as Zaferes but in reverse – winning on Sunday at home and then taking Championship Finals gold in Abu Dhabi – would see her become World Champion once again and pull clear as the most decorated triathlete in the sport’s history.

So as Bermuda buckles up, you can watch all the action unfold over on TriathlonLive.tv.

Article tags flora duffy bermuda katie zaferes kristian blummenfelt gustav iden casper stornes wtcs bermuda