Flora Duffy has made Olympic history, winning the women's triathlon in Tokyo to give the tiny island of Bermuda their first-ever gold medal.

The 33-year-old timed 1hr 55min 36sec to come home more than a minute ahead of Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown (1:56.50), with American Katie Zaferes (1:57.03) taking the bronze on Tuesday.

Duffy's success makes Bermuda the smallest nation in terms of population - around 70,000 - to ever win a gold medal at a Summer Games.

For Duffy it was a welcome reward after persistent injuries and a diagnosis of anaemia in 2013.

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She quit the sport after failing to finish the event at the 2008 Beijing Games and started working in a shop in Bermuda before eventually returning to the sport after studing for a degree.

In a race delayed by 15 minutes because of slippery conditions following heavy overnight rain, Duffy took control in the final running section.

She had opened up a lead of almost a minute after the first of four laps and was never under threat from then on.