Flora Duffy’s superb start to the season just got better.

The latest ITU World Triathlon Series elite women’s rankings show the Bermuda triathlete in second, her highest position to date.

Duffy trails world No 1 Helen Jenkins, of Britain, by 219 points after the opening two events of this year’s World Triathlon Series.

Jenkins won last week’s World Triathlon Series Gold Coast event in Australia with Duffy fourth across the line in 1hr 56.58min.

The multiple Female Athlete of the Year winner climbed two places in the rankings after producing a second straight fourth-place finish to leapfrog Jodie Stimpson, of Britain, and Ashleigh Gentle of Australia.

“After the Gold Coast race I’m ranked number two in the world which is pretty cool,” Duffy said.

Duffy produced one of the best performances of her career to finish fourth in Australia last week.

The two-times Xterra world champion recovered from a slow start to give herself a shot at a podium finish in a field packed full of athletes seeking to qualify for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.

Duffy exited the water well down the field, but took full advantage of her prowess on the bike to pull away in a group alongside Jenkins and Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand.

The trio opened a gap of more than a minute on the chasing pack, and Duffy entered the second transition ahead of the rest after finishing the ride in 1:01:39, with Jenkins and Hewitt close behind.

From then, it was a straight race for the line, with Jenkins moving ahead early and ultimately never relinquishing her lead.

Hewitt and Duffy had more than a minute’s head start on Jorgensen, but the American, who dominated the WTS events last year, chipped away at the pair and, with less than a kilometre left, hauled in Duffy and then passed Hewitt right at the finish line.

“I was in a break away with Helen Jenkins and Andrea Hewitt on the bike, and we worked really well together to put nearly a minute into the chase group,” Duffy said.

“We rode really hard, I was quite tired going on to the run.

“The run went pretty well, I have been running well in training so expected to run a little better in the race. But after such a hard ride I was quite fatigued.

“I still ran well and pleased to finish forth. Andrea, Gwen and myself were together with about 250 metres to go, and I knew it was going to come down to a sprint, but when they surged I could not respond.”

Duffy added: “I was really happy with how the race unfolded. It was a really strong field and an Olympic qualification race for a few countries. I went in with lower expectations as I knew a lot of girls would be in top form.

“I arrived only a few days before the race from South Africa, so a bit of a gamble on how I would feel after the long travel, but luckily I felt good.”

Duffy, who has all but qualified for a third successive Olympic appearance, will be in action on April 24 when she competes in the World Triathlon Series in Cape Town.