Flora Duffy would have liked nothing better than to be making her IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship debut in St George this weekend.

The newly-crowned Olympic champion would have been among the leading contenders for glory in Utah – a certain Sebastian Kienle admitted only on Sunday that she would have been his pick to win.

Flora Duffy on 70.3 Worlds

Duffy though will not be there, and in an Instagram post over the weekend she gave a very simple reason for her absence – she is completely shattered after a whirlwind few weeks.

If winning Bermuda’s first ever Olympic gold medal in the brutal humidity of Tokyo was not enough, Flora then went on almost immediately to Canada to claim another WTCS title in Edmonton.

She said: “Wish it was my pre St George week, but was just too empty, too tired after Canada to step up to another pressured opportunity.

“Seriously hope the dates line up for next year and I can make my 70.3 Worlds debut in the US.”

Upcoming races for Flora Duffy

Flora, who was a guest of honour at the US Open tennis championship in New York last week, also provided an update on her upcoming race plans, revealing: “For now my plan is: Malibu, Bermuda, Abu Dhabi and Maui.”

Looking a little further ahead, Flora also has an invitation to the rescheduled 2021 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona to ponder. That race is now planned (hopefully) to go ahead on February 5, 2022. Both Duffy and fellow Tokyo champion Kristian Blummenfelt were handed ‘special invitations’ in August.

The future for elite triathlon is exciting given the amount of short-course superstars who are starting to translate their ability to longer distances. American young gun Taylor Knibb blitzed Daniela Ryf among others at the Collins Cup recently, and the aforementioned Kienle is backing her to win the big one in St George.