Bermuda’s first Olympic gold medal-winner returned to the spotlight last night at the US Open tennis championships as part of efforts to promote the island.

Triathlon superstar Flora Duffy was a guest on the US Open Facebook Live show The Changeover alongside tennis star Andy Roddick as the New York City event celebrated Bermuda Night.

Ms Duffy showed off her gold medal on the show – and said it got her stopped by security officials she flew into New York.

She explained: “They pulled my backpack aside and I was thinking that it was strange because there was nothing in there.

“They were digging through and then they pulled out the box that it was in. They couldn’t believe it.”

Ms Duffy said she was once a ball girl for the XL Open at the Coral Beach and Tennis Club in Paget, but that she had only watched tennis on TV since.

She also discussed her Olympic victory and the wave of support she had received since her July triumph in Tokyo.

Ms Duffy said: “No one warns you or prepares you for it. I suppose your mind doesn’t want to go there. It has been crazy in the best sense.”

“In Bermuda it has been crazy. Everyone has been really excited and gotten behind me.”

She added that the delay in the Olympics because of the Covid-19 crisis had increased the pressure she was under.

Ms Duffy said: “There was not a day I was not asked about if the Olympics were happening or being a favourite.”

The programme – which was watched live by hundreds of people on the US Open Facebook Page – also highlighted that Bermuda was a 90 minute flight from New York.

Viewers and the crowds at the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre were also given a glimpse of the island through commercials, on-site video messages, courtside branding and promotional giveaways.