Flora Duffy said capturing a maiden World Cup triathlon title in Mexico at the weekend was well worth the struggles associated with being a professional athlete.The University of Colorado student booked her ticket to this summer’s Olympic Games in the UK after capturing the Elite Women’s title at the Huatulco ITU Triathlon World Cup event.Duffy covered the 1.5K swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run in an overall time of two hours, 13 minutes and 17 seconds to finish 30 seconds ahead of nearest rival, Pamela Oliveira of Brazil.“Yesterday’s (Sunday) win was amazing,” the past Female Athlete of the Year told The Royal Gazette. “It was certainly worth all the ups and downs that go along with being a professional athlete.“It brought me to tears as I crossed the line, which I think sums up how much it means to me. The win certainly helped with Olympic qualification. Before the race I was towards the end of the Olympic start list but after the win I am in a much safer place.”Duffy said Sunday’s triathlon did not go without its share of challenges on the race course.“The conditions were very hard, the temperatures were in the upper 90s and it was humid,” she said. “The bike and run course are both hilly, particularly the bike course.“Each lap (eight laps) we went up a huge hill which I believe is a 24 percent gradient. It was steep and certainly hurts the legs.”Duffy entered the event confident of putting in a strong showing but never dreamed of standing at the top of the podium after all was said and done.“I knew I could have a good result because my training had been going well and I knew the course suited me, but to win was beyond what I expected,” she said. “I certainly exceeded my expectations.”With the pressure of qualifying for the Olympics now behind her, Duffy, who pocketed $6,250 for her efforts in Mexico, has set her sights on keeping herself in pristine shape leading up to July’s Games in London.“Now that qualification is coming to an end my coach and I need to sit down and figure out a race schedule for the lead up to the Games,” she said. “There are a bunch of World Cup and World Cup series races that I can do, it’s just a matter of choosing the races I want to do.“There are still two more races that count for Olympic qualification. The first is this coming Friday in San Diego which I’ll do and then two weeks later in Madrid, Spain which I will not race.”Also doing the Island proud in Mexico at the weekend was Duffy’s compatriot, Tyler Butterfield, who placed fourth in the Elite Men’s field to enhance his own Olympic qualifying hopes.Butterfield covered the course in an overall time of two hours, three minutes and four seconds.“I think Tyler had a fantastic race,” Duffy said. “He is always in the tough positions of being down out of the swim and has to play catch-up, which he does quite well.“He had a great race and the result was a big step towards Olympic qualification for him.”