Flora Duffy’s bronze-medal performance in the triathlon in the Pan Am Games’ curtain raiser was always going to be an impossible act to follow.

Duffy’s lionhearted display at a sun-drenched Ontario Place was Bermuda’s first podium finish at a major international competition since sailor Malcolm Smith won silver in the Sunfish class at the 2003 Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

It was unrealistic to hope for another Bermuda athlete to eclipse the high-water mark set by Duffy, who claimed Bermuda’s ninth Pan Am Games medal since the quadrennial event started in 1951.

But there were plenty of other performances worthy of merit in Toronto. And a few disappointments, too.

In the case of long jumper Tyrone Smith his consistent showing at the CIBC Pan Am Athletics Stadium at York University fell into both categories. Smith had been a possible medal contender but fell just short in his ambition of a top-three finish, placing fourth with a leap of 8.07 metres.

Despite jumping beyond eight metres on four occasions, Smith was far from happy and felt frustrated at not being able to produce the “haymaker” leap that would have catapulted him into a podium place.

The 30-year-old might not have been in any mood to search for positives in his post-competition interview, but he could not deny that all signs point towards a strong World Championships in Beijing next month.

Another “what could have been” moment for Team Bermuda was the oh-so promising showing of Cecilia Wollmann in the Laser Radial class on Lake Ontario.

With the scenic Toronto skyline in the background, Wollmann delivered some towering displays with two superb second-place finishes in a top-class fleet.

Had the two races she had led not been abandoned because of insufficient wind, Wollmann, who was the third youngest sailor in her class, would have almost certainly qualified for the medal race.

Aged just 17, the Saltus Grammar School pupil exudes a quiet confidence and did not appear in the slightest bit overawed by competing on the biggest stage of her fledgling sporting life.

It is fair to assume that the Toronto Games are just the start of a rosy future for Wollmann, who is perhaps a medal-winner in the making.

Another teenager to exceed expectations in Toronto was gymnast Sydney Mason, who was called up to the all-around final as a reserve, placing 27th out of 54 competitors at the Toronto Coliseum.

Patrick Nisbett can also reflect on a job well done after finishing tied in fifteenth in the final medal round of the show jumping at the OLG Caledon Equestrian Park.

Nisbett, a three-times Pan Am Games athlete, seems to have struck up a flourishing partnership with his horse Quick Z.

The dark brown gelding’s dramatic ring entrances were almost entertaining as his smooth, flowing jumping, with the nine-year-old having to be amusingly backed into the ring by a persuasive Nisbett because of “big-show” nerves.

It did not take long for Quick Z, who is “still a baby” according to Nisbett, to discover his stride, though, with the pair finishing with just 13 penalties.

Interspersing the successes in Toronto were moments of inevitable disappointment, most notably cyclists Dominique Mayho and Zoenique Williams who suffered a Games to forget.

Both failed to finish the road race in Ontario Place, with Williams withdrawing shortly after a competitor’s derailleur became caught in her one of her wheels.

It was another cruel blow for Williams who was prevented from competing in the time-trial because her bike did not comply with regulations. Bizarrely, she had been reassured the previous day by officials that only one minor adjustment was required.

Mayho was also forced to make alterations to his bike prior to the time-trial. The 21-year-old withdrew from the race because he was concerned about injuring himself, so uncomfortable was he with the changes.

Bermuda might have made a blistering start to the Games with Duffy’s opening-day medal, but that was not the case for the host city whose notoriously hard-to-please residents took time to warm to the competition. Tickets were initially sluggish, with stories centring on the abundance still available, hotels resembling ghost towns, and traffic crippling an already congested city.

That negativity soon subsided as Canada started winning, with tickets sales reaching 1.05 million out of an available 1.3 million, according to organisers.

The Canucks might have been defeated by the United States in the medal count, 271 to 265, but the perceived success of the Games has put Toronto in a position to launch a bid for 2024 Olympic Games.

The only Olympics on Duffy’s radar is next year’s Games in Rio. Having suffered from loss of form and misfortune in her previous Olympics, in Beijing and London, the 27-year-old should be confident of building on her Toronto success.