Just when you thought her season couldn’t get any better, teenaged triathlon sensation Flora Duffy pulled off the best result of her fledgling career yesterday by placing an incredible sixth at the BG World Cup triathlon in Cancun, Mexico.

The result beats her previous best World Cup effort of ninth set in Hamburg this past September and underlines once again the extraordinary potential of one of the most exciting athletic prospects ever to emerge from the Island.

Duffy completed the Olympic-distance course, involving a 1.5-mile swim, a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run in two hours, two minutes and 28 seconds, only 11 seconds slower than the third-placed finisher.

The world junior triathlon silver medallist was in 13th place after the first two disciplines, before producing a typically commanding 10K time of 35:56 to surge up the standings.

Duffy — who was the only teenager to finish inside the top 40 in Cancun — now stands at an impressive 28th in the Olympic rankings and given that she has to finish in the top 55 to be guaranteed a place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, her chances of making it to China now look better than ever.

See Wednesday’s Royal Gazette for an extended interview with the up and coming star.