ABU DHABI: Flora Duffy became the only woman ever to win four World Triathlon titles on Friday afternoon in Abu Dhabi, confirming her status as the greatest female athlete that the sport has ever seen.
Bermuda’s Olympic hero was again able to deliver when it mattered most, navigating plenty of drama on the 40 km bike race and then easing away from the only woman who could stop her date with destiny, Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown.
Silver went to Taylor-Brown, with an excellent first podium for Lena Meissner in third. The finals meant another eventful fourth-place finish for Taylor Knibb after coming off on the bike secured her the series bronze.
“I’m really, really proud of this one,” said a beaming Duffy afterward. “It was a difficult start to the year for me coming out of the Olympics and Covid. It took a lot of work to get my mind back into it, so I’m thrilled. I smiled a few times when it was just me and Georgia…I feel like she brings me to another level. We don’t really give each other an inch and I just wanted to stay safe. When I got a little bit of a gap on the third lap of the run, it was a little sooner than I anticipated but I thought, ‘Well, gotta go now.’”
Taylor-Brown finished with the silver at the end of an exhausting campaign, and Meissner with a gutsy first-ever World Triathlon Championship Series podium ahead of Knibb. Leonie Periault ran her way into fifth, Vittoria Lopes hung on for an excellent sixth ahead of Taylor Spivey, Emma Lombardi, Miriam Casillas Garcia and Cassandre Beaugrand, rounding out the top 10.
“I gave it everything I had today,” said Taylor-Brown. “It’s been a hard few months, but I’m really proud of myself out there today, giving it everything and doing all I could. We were battling it out to the end, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I don’t think she would. I’m still learning in every race, and I still want that world title one day.”
Meissner said it would take a few days for the achievement to sink in.
“It was tough, but I got here 10 days ago, and I had good heat prep and there was lots of water and ice out there,” she said. “I just tried to stay calm and confident, and it just worked perfectly for me today.”
Meanwhile, Knibb commented: “I’m pretty shocked. There were a lot of ups and downs in the season and today. The corner was entirely my fault. I wasn’t fully processing things at that point, and it was a bit of user error and I’m sorry to Maya and Vittoria and Lena behind me for that. Hopefully I will be back here in March to go again.”
