Flora Duffy is one step away from completing a remarkable hat-trick of world titles.

The ITU WTS World Champion, Duffy added the Xterra World Championship title to her list of 2016 achievements yesterday with her most dominating performance so far.

Next up is the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships next month in Australia where she is again the defending champion, and not many would bet against her.

Already on her way to arguably becoming Bermuda’s greatest athlete, Duffy made history in Hawaii, winning the race for the third consecutive season and becoming the first triathlete to win the ITU World Championship and Xterra title in the same year.

Her hat-trick of wins drew her alongside Julie Dibens, who won three in a row from 2007 to 2009, and also won the Ironman 70.3 world title in 2009.

Dominant from the start, the Bermuda triathlete beat nearest rival Lesley Paterson by more than ten minutes, emphatically dispelling any pre-race notions that Paterson, the 2011 and 2012 champion, might challenge her for her crown.

First out of the water with a 1min 30sec lead over Michelle Flipo of Mexico, Duffy was 4½min ahead of Suzie Snyder and 5:39 ahead of Paterson going into transition.

She added another 3:17 over Paterson with her women’s-best 2:02:03 mountain bike split, and padded her lead over Paterson by another 1:02 with her women’s-best 48:32 run, eventually finishing in 3hr 14min 59sec. Paterson was second in 3:25:01, with Snyder third in 3:29:03.

“This was the most brutal conditions I’ve ever faced in Xterra,” said Duffy. “It’s a totally different climate and the mud sticks to your bike and covers everything. My bike must have weighed ten extra pounds and the mud clogged my pulley wheels and made it hard to shift gears.

“At any time my bike could have slipped out of gear and it could have cost me eight minutes.”

In the men’s race Mauricio Mendez of Mexico took the men’s crown three days after his 21st birthday, and just three weeks after he won his first Ironman 70.3 Cozumel.

Mendez came out of the swim in third place, 24 seconds behind the leader, then fought hard to stay within 2:28 of Ruben Ruzafa’s race-best mountain bike leg.

On his way to a race-best 42:45 trail run, Mendez passed Ruzafa at the crest of a final hill just two kilometres from the finish. After cruising to the finish in 2:49:39, Mendez enjoyed a 1:24 margin of victory over Ruzafa and 4:11 over Ben Allen, of Australia, who was third.

Her second world title of 2016, Duffy can make it a hat-trick in Australia next month. After which she will travel to the Bahamas for the Island House Invitational, the end to what has been a remarkable year for the Bermudian.

“It’s a great way to cap off the best year in my tri career,” Duffy said. “It was pretty cool to win the ITU and Xterra World Championships in one year — and it was a great motivator to keep me focused at the end of the year.”

Before Australia, however, Duffy will return home for a brief visit during which she will give a talk on her year, and what it takes to reach the pinnacle of her sport.

Titled “An Evening with Flora Duffy”, the wine-tasting fundraiser will take place at City Hall on Friday, November 4, with all proceeds going towards the Bermuda Triathlon Association.

Adult tickets cost $60 and it is $20 for under-18s. Space is limited, for details e-mail btamembership@gamil.com