Elite women’s triathlete Flora Duffy yesterday downplayed her top ten showing at the Pan Am Games in Mexico on Sunday.The 24-year-old University of Colorado student finished eighth in a formidable field but felt she could’ve done even better in suitable racing conditions.The Bermudian covered the 1.5K swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run in 2.03:38.Duffy lost precious ground on the lead pack during the swim, leaving her to play catch up the rest of the way.Ultimately, it was a task beyond her reach.“I had a bad swim which I have not had all year and so I missed that front group,” she said. “My goal was to swim with the leaders because I knew that was the way to get to the podium.”All attempts Duffy made to close the gap on the leaders thereafter also fell by the wayside.“The girls that I was racing with on the bike were not working and so that front group put time into us and when we came off the run. I ran the best that I could,” she said. “I have struggled with a foot injury for the past couple of weeks and haven’t really run at all.“It was painful but I got through and finished in the top ten. It was solid, but I’m not particularly pleased with the way things went in Mexico because I knew I had a very pretty good idea how the race was going to unfold.“There were fairly good conditions and the course was fine so I can’t complain about anything there. Now I will take a couple of weeks off and start revamping for next year.”Also competing in Puerto Vallarta on Sunday was compatriot Tyler Butterfield in the Elite Men’s event.The Colorado-based athlete finished sixth overall after covering the course in 1.50:03.“Tyler had an awesome race and I was very pleased to see him finish sixth,” Duffy said. “He was down from the start because of a poor swim but was lucky there were a bunch of guys in his pack (during cycling stage) that wanted to work and catch the front group.“They closed the gap to about 20 seconds when they came into transition. Tyler is a very strong runner and he ran well and ran up to sixth which was awesome.”Brazil’s Reinaldo Colucci and USA’s Sarah Haskins won the gold medals.