Flora Duffy will resume her quest to fulfill a childhood ambition at this month’s Xterra World Championships in Maui, Hawaii.

Duffy has long harboured a dream of attaining global supremacy and this month’s off-road triathlon World Championships will afford her with another opportunity to make that dream a reality.

“Being a world champion has been my dream since I was eight years old and to see that dream become a reality would be huge and mean the world to me,” Duffy said.

The two-time Olympian thrived at the previous Xterra World Championships, finishing third.

That impressive display helped galvanise Duffy’s career and she has not looked back since.

In her first full season racing on the United States Xterra circuit, the University of Colorado graduate won all three regional championships as well as the national title.

She also won the Asia-Pacific Championships and South African Championships for added measure.

“The 2014 season has been very unexpected,” Duffy said. “It’s my first season as a full-time athlete as I finished studies last year May and was able to train throughout the winter and rest and recover.

“This year I have been able to compete in as many races as I want, wherever I want, and train as much as I need to, which has really allowed me the flexibility to go up another level performance wise.”

Duffy is wary that with success comes greater expectations — something she is learning to live with heading into the World Championships.

“I think this year going into the race is a lot different because given the success I’ve had this year, I’m labelled as a favourite, which does add a bit of pressure regardless of your own desires for the race,” Duffy said. “I would love to improve upon third and definitely think that I am capable of it.”

The 27-year-old has cranked up her training in the lead up to Maui to bolster her chances of, at the very least, improving upon her previous showing.

“My training has been going really well and I know I’m in great shape,” Duffy said. “I’m riding and running really well. I just need to execute the race like I have done the last few and hopefully have no incidents on the bike, which can really change the race. I’ve done pretty much all I can do and hopefully I feel good on the day and just race and see what happens.”

Grant Holicky, Duffy’s swim coach at the RallySport Health and Fitness Club in Boulder, Colorado, believes that the Bermudian has yet to reach her full potential.

“I think the best is yet to come,” he said. “I definitely think there’s still some untapped potential in there.

“Flora is learning more and more about herself as an athlete and as she does that she’s going to gain more confidence and get faster and faster.

“Flora is incredibly driven and she loves what she’s doing.”

The World Championships take place October 26.