"I believe I’m still competitive to challenge for an Olympic medal": Flora Duffy on her battle to return to the top of the sport

Everything she’s touched has turned to gold for Flora Duffy in recent years: Olympic victory, a string of ITU world championship titles, a record-breaking number of Xterra wins.

But in 2023 she's experienced the inevitable ebb and flow of life as a pro athlete as she found herself sidelined by a knee injury that’s tested her mettle.

Here we catch up with the triathlon doyenne to talk rehab, remaining positive and returning to racing…

Flora Duffy on her injury rehab…

220: How is your injury rehab going?

Flora Duffy: Rehab is going well, for the most part, but it’s very up and down, which I think is pretty normal for rehab. I have good days and bad days, but overall I’m steadily progressing towards fully healing.

I have a tear in my patella tendon and some related problems with the patellofemoral joint, so figuring out the right rehab protocol has taken some time.

For a while it felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere, like I didn’t have any momentum, so it’s nice seeing some progress now.

220: What does training look like at the moment?

FD: I’ve built back up to swimming six days a week, which is my normal swim volume, around 25km. At first I was just pulling, but I’ve recently started to incorporate kicking into some of my sessions.

I’m still not able to push off walls, as that’s one of the worst things for my knee, but it’s been great to get some intensity into my swims.

In terms of riding, I’ve been steadily progressing and am currently up to about seven to eight hours of riding a week, so it’s not great, but it’s not nothing.

Otherwise, I have rehab three times a week and I’m doing gym three times a week, plus starting to mix in some aqua jogging. All in all it’s about 18 hours of training a week, which isn’t too bad.

It’s hard to say whether I’m really building fitness, but at least I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.

220: When are you hoping to return to full training?

FD: That’s a hard question to answer, largely because I thought I would already be there. I guess you could say that’s ‘to be determined’ and we will see how the weeks add up and how my knee handles the higher load in both the pool and on the bike.

I hope I’m at full training at some point this year. I don’t want to put too much pressure on it, as that’s not a fun way to go about injury, which is not particularly fun anyway.

My coach, Nate Wilson, has been awesome. We’ve worked together for a few years now and, of course, I’ve raced for many, many years, so we both know what it takes to bring me back to a really high level – it’s just taking a lot of patience right now.

Flora Duffy on her return to racing…

220: When do you think you’ll return to racing?

FD: It was my goal to return to racing at the Paris Test Event in August, but it’s obviously taking me a lot longer to come back than I initially thought.

But I can’t put too much pressure on myself because my big focus is to get to the Paris Olympics fit, fully healthy, and ready to go. If that means sacrificing quite a bit this year in terms of racing, then that’s just the path I’m on.

Flora Duffy on coping with injury…

220: How do you stay focused and patient during a time like this?

FD: When you’re injured, it’s difficult to remain positive and patient but you have to try not to push to come back too quickly too soon because you just get caught in an injury cycle.

Even if you're managing to take it slow, it still doesn’t mean you will be on the correct path and the injury will end quickly. It’s really tricky.

What helps for me is that I can take a lot from my performances over the last few years. I have accomplished my ultimate goal, which was winning gold in Tokyo, and I secured a world title [ a record-breaking fourth] and Commonwealth gold last year. I’ve ticked off some huge achievements.

Also, I think deep down I knew I needed a break, as there has been a lot going on over the last two years. So now I’m allowing my body to rest, relax, be in one place, not hopping on and off a plane and racing all around the world, even though I am rehabbing an injury. It’s this that has helped me to stay in the moment.

It’s definitely very, very difficult, though. And I think the patience part for me is that I have Paris to aim for and I’m willing to sacrifice races this year in order to make that happen. This mindset hasn’t come easily, though. It has taken years of racing to be in this position.

Flora Duffy on her Paris 2024 ambitions…

220: You’ve achieved a tremendous amount in recent years. What’s your North Star now?

FD: Paris is my North Star now. I would love to compete for another medal. It’s funny to say that because I guess I never really thought I would win one Olympic title let alone go into another Olympics believing I could win a second.

I think one of my big pushes is that in Tokyo a lot of my friends, family and sponsors weren’t able to be there [due to Covid]. The whole Olympic experience wasn’t there, so I would love to feel that in Paris.

I believe I’m still competitive and good enough to challenge for a medal. It would just be awesome to be there on the start line.

That’s what gets me out of bed every morning and pulls me through the tough times when I start wondering if my knee will ever heal. I always keep my sights on Paris.

Flora Duffy on post-Paris…

220: And after Paris?

FD: I will be transitioning out of short-course racing. I did a couple of 70.3 races last year and had some mixed results. I enjoyed learning a whole new style of triathlon with the time-trial bike, nutrition, the distance, slightly different training.

Between the PTO races and the 70.3s, there’s a lot of opportunity. Ironman hasn’t caught my eye yet. I still think ‘it’s just so far’!

Top image credit: ANP Sport via Getty Images