HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC) – Olympic gold medallist Dame Flora Duffy has won Bermuda’s Female Athlete-of-the-Year award for the ninth time.

Duffy, a 34-year-old triathlete, who claimed Bermuda’s first-ever Olympic gold medal at last year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo, said in a recorded message: “Certainly, it was a massive year and I’m very grateful to all of you who played a major role in allowing me to achieve what I did last year, getting a gold medal in Tokyo.

“I want to say a big thank-you to the Bermuda Olympic Association for the support and allowing me to do my thing. I also want to say thank-you to the Bermuda Triathlon Association for years and years of support which started when I first got into the sport and all the way up to going to the Olympics and going for gold.

“Winning last year in Tokyo was definitely the biggest honour of my career and I’m so glad that I could do it for Bermuda,” added Duffy, who won her first Bermuda female award in 2006.
Duffy, who was made a Dame in the Queen’s New Year Honours, has already said she plans to defend her Olympic crown in Paris in 2024.

Duffy, currently training in South Africa – her husband Dan Hugo’s homeland – for the upcoming international triathlon season, ended Bermuda’s long wait for a second Olympic medal – the only other one coming when heavyweight boxer Clarence Hill took bronze at the 1976 Games in Montreal.

Triple jumper Jah-Nhai Perinchief landed the Male Athlete-of-the-Year award handed out at the 40th Government Sports Awards at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club.
Perinchief, 24, is the first triple jumper to win the male award since Brian Wellman won five straight Athlete-of-the-Year titles in the 1990s.

“Unfortunately, I can’t be in attendance due to the fact that I’m overseas training and preparing for the World Indoor Championships and the rest of my outdoor season,” Perinchief said in his recorded message.

“So far this year it has been interesting. It’s been fun transitioning from college to the pros. I’ve learnt a lot of new things, constantly getting better and constantly working hard,” added Perinchief, who has already qualified for the Commonwealth Games in the English city of Birmingham this year and the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador in 2023.