Flora Duffy has etched her name into the annals of Bermudian sporting history after winning the bronze medal in the triathlon at the Pan Am Games.

The 27-year-old produced a determined and gutsy display to become the first Bermuda athlete to medal at a major competition since sailor Malcolm Smith won silver in the Sunfish class at the 2003 Games in Santo Domingo.

Moments after crossing the finish line in a time of 1hr 57min 56sec, Duffy shared an emotional embrace with her boyfriend and coach, Dan Hugo, a former top South African triathlete, before hailing his knowledge and encouragement as key factors behind her phenomenal display.

“Dan was yelling splits [times] at me, encouraging me and making me stay focused, especially during the run,” said Duffy.

“He was telling me to stay strong, keep believing and that was half of the reason I was able to race so well.

“It’s incredibly cool to have him here with me. We spend every day together, train together and he advises me a lot. We’ve been together for two years and I really think my performances have jumped in that time. It may not be a direct correlation, but he’s definitely been a big part of my improvement.

“Knowing he’s here for me … you can’t really quantify that.”

Duffy’s performance was all the more impressive considering she had not competed since the start of April because of shin splints, a repetitive strain injury, and was only given the all-clear to start running again four weeks ago.

She had been in the form of her life prior to the setback, finishing third in Abu Dhabi, fifth in the Gold Coast, as well as picking up several wins in the Xterra (off-road) Series.

“I really had doubts about whether I could pull it off,” said Duffy, who became the Xterra world champion last year. “But somehow my running legs were here with me and I’m really happy with how it all worked out.

“It’s been a little stressful but all triathletes have their injuries and issues coming into a race. It’s rare for anyone to have a perfect build-up, so that puts things into perspective.”

Under sunny skies at the Ontario Place West Channel and with the Toronto skyline in full view, Duffy made a superb start to the 1.5-kilometre swim and was first out of the water in 18:35, two seconds ahead of Sarah Haskins, of the United States, and Pamella Oliveira, of Brazil, who was a further second behind.

Haskins, who won gold at the previous Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, then threw a spanner in the works for Duffy and Oliveira by choosing to wait in the transition zone for Chelsea Burns and Erin Jones, her US team-mates.

Although Haskins’s patience put her at 90-second disadvantage heading into the bike, her experience helped the chasing pack close the gap with the leaders, much to Duffy’s indignation.

“It was my goal to get a small group away after the swim and I expected Haskins to come with me on the bike and have a little breakaway,” said the two-times Olympian.

“Unfortunately, she waited for her team-mates in the transition and that really pissed me off.

“I didn’t know she was going to do that and obviously there was some team tactics going on. They thought that was their best chance of winning a medal and it’s incredibly frustrating because triathletes from small countries like me and Barbara [Riveros of Chile] don’t have team-mates to do that.”

Duffy said that Haskins’s team-first tactics only served to motivate her further and believed it was poetic justice that the US were denied a place on the podium.

Riveros, the strongest runner in the field of 35 athletes, finished in an overall time of 1:57:18, with second-place Paola Diaz of Mexico crossing the line in 1:57:48.

“Geez; you have no idea how much that frustrates me,” said Duffy, who finished the 40km bike in 1:21:36 and run in 35:57. “I had a few words with Haskins when she caught me up [on the bike].

“It’s in the rules and they can do that, but it just motivated me and I managed to channel my anger correctly.

“I thought it was incredibly cool that myself, Barbara and Paola [Diaz] were on the podium. It just shows you can still do well by racing hard from gun to tape.”

Duffy had to draw on every ounce of her mental fortitude to keep Ecuador’s Elizabeth Bravo at bay during a tense finale to the enthralling race.

“The run was hard and you have to think strong thoughts,” Duffy said. “You know the rest of them are hurting just as much as you.

“I’m a strength runner and I had to push it on the hill as much as I could. With about two kilometres to go I knew I had broken her [Bravo].”

Looking ahead to next year’s Olympic Games in Rio, Duffy said she felt confident she could finally make her mark on the biggest stage of all.

She will certainly hope Lady Luck smiles more sweetly upon her than it did in London, where she suffered heartache after crashing in front of Buckingham Palace while leading the chase group.

Duffy also endured misery in Beijing in 2008, when she failed to finish because of loss of form and illness.

“I have a lot of confidence right now,” Duffy said. “I know the quality will be a lot higher at the Olympics, but hopefully I can have smooth preparations and build off that.”