The 2016 Triathlon season was a year that Bermuda nor the World will never forget. From the World Triathlon Series, World Cups, World Championships and the Olympic, it was a busy year that produced nothing short of unbelievable moments.
Today it’s the Women’s Showdown between Bermuda’s Flora Duffy and Gwen Jorgensen from the USA.
The battle for the World title was an exciting one this year, as a two-time reigning champion and a first-time candidate duked it out in the hopes of claiming the 2016 crown. Coming off winning Olympic gold a month before Mexico, Jorgensen had the momentum, also knowing that she had won rights the last two years to call herself the fastest woman in triathlon. She was sitting second in the Columbia Threadneedle rankings and earning the title once again would have made her a three-peat defender, an accomplishment no elite woman has ever done in the history of the Series.
But Bermuda’s Duffy had been the woman on top this season and she had no intention of giving that up. Duffy had never won the overall title before and after her season’s accolades, the title was well deserved.
Only 166 points separated Duffy from Jorgensen, which meant that the race was a close one. In order for Duffy to be crowned World Champion, she needed to finish first or second in the race.
Then on race day, while the rivalry was heated up between the two women, the cards fell into Duffy’s lap. She delivered a flawless performance from start to finish and on her signature biking ride, she put up enough distance between her and running talent Jorgensen that she was never touched and Duffy won the title that day.
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