An emotional Dame Flora Duffy has revealed that announcing her retirement proved far more difficult than she thought it would be.

The Olympic champion, two-times Commonwealth Games gold-medal winner and 12-times world champion called time on her career last week.

In a frank interview with The Royal Gazette, Duffy outlined how difficult the decision has been to make and reflected on competing at the highest level for more than two decades.

“Retiring is something I had been thinking about for quite some time,” Duffy said.

“I had a lot of time to prepare myself for what it might feel like once I released the news but it was far more emotional than I thought it would be.

“Once I started seeing some of the messages on my Instagram post and the WhatsApps I received, I was really blown away. Every message really meant a lot and that was very special.

“That put a lot into perspective in terms of everything I’ve done, my career and the impact I’ve had. I got messages from some of the athletes that I’ve raced against and from other Bermudian athletes.

“I suppose that’s why I was so emotional because in my mind I’d mentally prepared and at peace with my retirement but then you start to reflect on everything and realise what an amazing journey I’ve been on.”

Duffy was denied a fairytale ending and the chance to wave goodbye on a triathlon race course after injuries took their toll and she admits this was not her ideal way to bow out.

“I knew I wasn't going to race for ever and I’m 39 by the end of the year, so regardless of any injuries my career was going to end around this time,” she said.

“I wish it would have ended with some racing as that would have been a nice way to go out, but again you can't control that. Not everyone gets a perfect ending and I can't really think of too many athletes that do, at least in the triathlon space.”

Nobody can deny that Duffy has given her all to the sport, with more than 20 years spent grinding away and putting in the hard yards away from the spotlight to ensure that she could take centre stage on triathlon’s biggest days. Now, with no reason to train, she will attempt to navigate a new normal.

“Until recently I’d never really thought that I’ve spent more than half of my life doing this,” Duffy said.

“That sounds crazy when I say it and it’s a huge adjustment to go from living what is an essentially incredibly selfish lifestyle and adjusting to a new one.

“I’ve definitely caught myself finding it difficult to change. I’m just so used to training and I'm still doing a little bit of exercise now. If I do a morning run or a morning swim I still take a nap and rest because I’m so ingrained to doing what I’ve always done as a professional athlete.

“But I’m ‘no, Flora, that's not what you do any more. You actually have other admin and things to do’.

“I used to prioritise rest so much and prioritise minimising any distraction outside of my training, whereas now training is not the No 1 focus. That is a massive shift for me mentally. It probably sounds small for a lot of people, but when you've been ingrained in a lifestyle for so long, it's so difficult to get out of it.”

But the freedom of no more training brings plenty of opportunities for Olympians and former world champions.

“It’s all so new that I haven't given it a huge amount of thought but I would like to stay connected to to the sport of triathlon in some capacity, Duffy said.

“I would like to spend more time in Bermuda and various projects there but I also feel like I’m still unwinding from this 20-year career and adjusting to what life looks like. It’s been nice to not have to jump into anything right away because I’m definitely a lot more tired than I anticipated from all of the years of intense training, racing, travel and the stress of competing at the highest level with all of the pressure and expectation.

“I’m enjoying having a moment to just sort of take a breath and enjoy a bit of downtime.”

Bermuda will feature heavily in Duffy’s future and she will be reminded of her exploits every time she returns home and drives down the hill named after her or visits the stadium bearing her name.

She also won twice in front of her adoring fans on home soil and ranks those victories alongside her Olympic Games win in Tokyo as her greatest moments.

“Those two races were so incredible and blew my expectations of what a race could mean to me,” Duffy said.

“The amount of people that came out, just the whole of community of Bermuda, it felt everybody came out to support the race and support me. It was just a wonderful, beautiful moment and it felt full circle because I grew up racing the Front Street Mile and the race started and finished on Front Street. That was incredibly cool and special and it was a wonderful day to be Bermudian.”

While she is just a week into her official retirement, it is only now that Duffy is starting to realise just how talented she was.

“It’s so interesting as when you’re in it you do not see how good you are,” she said.

“I'm now training at a far more relaxed level and I look back at the amount of training I was able to do, managing everything that came with it and competing at the highest level, and only now am I starting to think, ‘wow, you know what, I was pretty good at triathlon’.”