Flora Duffy came about as close to perfection as you can get in winning a second successive ITU World Triathlon Series crown on Saturday.
The Bermudian needed only to finish no lower than seventh in the WTS Grand Final in Rotterdam, having won five of six previous races in the 2017 series and finishing second in the other one. It was clear early on that only injury or a crash would stop the 29-year-old from reaching her goal.
From being only one second off the pace on the swim, to one second ahead on the bike, Duffy ran across the line all on her own, as she has done so many times during this record-breaking campaign.
She finished the race in a time of 1hr 58min 39sec, and it was almost a minute before her nearest rival followed suit, with Katie Zaferes, of the United States, finishing 55 seconds behind in second place. Duffy ends the campaign with a perfect 5,200 points, with each competitor’s five best scores being taken into account.