Bermuda’s Half-Marathon Derby champion Tyler Smith reverts to his regular day job in Tunisia this weekend.

After smashing his rivals in the island’s biggest race just a fortnight ago, the professional triathlete has travelled to North Africa to compete in Tunisia in the Africa Triathlon Cup Yammine today.

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Smith since he crossed the line on Dutton Avenue and he admits he may not have replied to everyone who messaged him after his stunning victory.

“After the race I put out a post as I was taking off on the overnight flight to London and by the time I landed it had just blown up,” Smith said.

“People that I haven’t spoken to for years and years but still have my WhatsApp were sending me congratulations. I might not have got back to everyone but I tried my best to and I really do appreciate all the support. It means the world.”

Roll on two weeks and Smith is making a sharp pivot back to the sport that took him to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in the hunt for points that might carry him to Los Angeles in 2028.

He goes into the Tunisia race ranked fifteenth in the field of 65 competitors but he is quick to note that event, held just a short flight from Rome and Madrid, has drawn a strong contingent of top European athletes.

“It’s an African Cup, but given that it’s in Tunisia and that’s only an hour and a half from Rome, Madrid and places like that, it’s an easy travel for a lot of the top European guys to get across,” Smith said.

“It is a good field and a little bit more dense than the races I was doing in South Africa and Namibia earlier in the year.

“But I feel pretty good going into this. I’m coming off a good training block back in Bermuda and I know that my run fitness is in a good spot so this is an opportunity to get some more points on the World Triathlon circuit.”

The big issue surrounding Smith’s preparation is trying to quantify just how much his Derby-winning exploits took out of him so close to a return to the highest level of competition.

“It took longer than probably I expected to bounce back,” Smith said.

“Part of that is the heat and part of that is the hills on the course. That race definitely takes more out of you than the traditional flat and cool-weather half-marathon. Then I had to combine that with getting back across to Europe.

“It took a while to feel settled again and to feel recovered again. I know the fitness is there but it’s only been in the last couple of days that I've really felt like the body is ready to go again. The timing is almost ideal but we'll just have to see on the day how I feel.

“I know I have months and months of training behind me so I'm not too concerned but it is a quick turnaround.”

Despite being an Olympian, Smith feels that he has earned more respect for winning the Derby than he got for making the start line in Paris.

“In a lot of ways people gave me more kudos for that than for getting to the Olympics,” he said.

“Maybe it came as a surprise to some people but there’s always an element of when you see something with your own eyes, you can relate to it so much more than when I’m off doing races around the world and there’s no real perspective or it’s difficult to understand what I'm doing.

“That's one of the reasons I wanted to come back home and do the race — not to prove anything but just to get a chance to race on home soil and get my name out there as an athlete a little bit more. I wanted to hopefully gain some support for the Olympic campaign moving into 2028 and show people what I’m capable of.”

The winning margin — more than five minutes over the field — impressed all who watched his effort and Smith was slightly surprised with the ease of his success given he feels that his run is arguably the weakest of the three triathlon disciplines.

“The crazy thing is my run’s probably the weakest of the three on an international level,” he said.

“The level in triathlon is really, really high and it’s starting to be recognised how good triathletes are at running globally.

“But you can only know what you see, so it’s important for top athletes to come back and try to put down some performances on home soil. Over the last 12 months I’ve been able to do that and it’s good for so many reasons — whether it’s inspiring people to try the sport or showing the juniors what's possible.

“The win has given me more motivation to keep on this path and try to represent Bermuda as best I can around the world.

“You can see that sport means a lot to people and it's a big part of the backbone of the Bermuda community. When we think about May 24 and Cup Match — all our holidays have sporting events attached to them.

“The message I got was loud and clear: people are supporting me, and they know that sport has an important place in our community.”