Flora Duffy will be hoping to make a winning start to her season when she defends her Xterra South African Championships on Saturday.

Duffy, who has all but qualified for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio, de Janeiro will be aiming for a third successive win at the championships and is looking forward to a successful season.

“I’m excited to get the 2016 season under way,” Duffy, the two-times Xterra World champion, said. “I’m really excited to race.

“The off-season flew by and I cannot believe that the new season is starting in a matter of days.”

Duffy is feeling confident ahead Saturday’s off-road triathlon after solid preparations.

“Training has been going fairly well, I have had a few solid months of training which has gone reasonably well,” the two-times Olympian said.

“I had a little bit of an injury and illness along the way, but everything seems to be coming together now.”

The Xterra South African Championships consists of a 1.5K swim, 28K mountain bike and 12.5K run.

“In terms of Xterra, I have focused this off-season more on the road side of triathlon with Rio in mind, and haven’t spent as much time on my mountain bike as in the past,” Duffy added.

“But, it is my favourite Xterra, so I’m really looking forward to racing, no matter what the outcome.”

Duffy is ranked twelfth in the ITU Olympic qualification list for Rio after a series of superb performances over the past two years, finishing seventh overall in last year’s ITU World Triathlon Series.

Considering she is almost guaranteed to be among the 55 elite women on the start line in Rio, Duffy said it was a huge relief to be able to prepare for her third successive Olympics without the burden of chasing qualification points.

“My build-up this year has been a much slower progression to fitness because I’m aiming for Rio in August, so I don’t want to get too fit too quickly,” Duffy said. “Timing is everything this year.”

Duffy’s season will mostly involve World Triathon Series races, with the WTS season starting in Abu Dhabi on March 3. The Bermuda triathlete’s schedule then takes her to Australia, Japan, Sweden and Canada, before the Olympics in August.

Duffy’s year ends with her defending her Xterra World Championsip title in October, and her ITU Cross World Championship the following month.