At the ITU World Cup in Ishigaki, Japan; Loretta Harrop (AUS) won in 1:56:45 with Steph Forrester 5th in 1:59:22 (18:20, 1:02:55, 38:07) and Michelle Dillon 8th in 2:00:45 (19:35, 1:03:34, 37:36). For the men, Ivan Rana (ESP) claimed his first World Cup victory in 1:46:17 with Andrew Johns 6th in 1:47:12 (17:17, 56:07, 33:48), Tim Don 7th in 1:47:16 (17:16, 56:38, 33:22) and Marc Jenkins 15th in 1:47:53 (17:15, 56:41, 33:57). The ITU website has the full results.

At the ETU Cup race in Cefalu, Sicily Csabe Kuttor (HUN) and Britain's Annie Emmerson won amid a storm of controversy, not only in the race but in the judges room afterwards, according to the ETU press report.

Csaba Kuttor (HUN) in 37:35 and Britain's Annie Emmerson in 41:31 were clear race winners, in an event which had to face problems blown up by what one official described as "apocalyptic weather conditions", with near gale-force winds, hail stones and thunder storms forcing a one-hour delay in the start times of both men's and women's races.

Instead of the originally planned swim-bike-run-swim-bike-run Enduro format, organisers were forced to switch to a single 400-metre swim across the harbour, followed by a bike-run-bike-run. In the women's race, sea conditions were so choppy that several competitors were washed on to the beach early on and had to fight back. "It was the worst conditions I've ever had to swim in," Emmerson said after collecting her 2,000 Euros winner's cheque.

Race organiser Gerrit Curcio said, "The safety of the competitors was always our first concern. We only took the decision to race after very careful consideration. We are delighted therefore that we were able to go ahead and stage the event safely." The short distance cycle rides and runs otherwise contributed to some close racing. Kuttor, runner-up in the previous ETU European Cup event in the Azores earlier this month, just outsprinted Australia's Richie Cunningham on the final 1,500-metre run.

In the women's event, it was a British one-two, as Emmerson, in her first triathlon of the season, beat the in-form Leanda Cave (41:46). (No official details yet on the other GB athletes but we believe the other two GB girls finished in the top 10; Jessica Harrison is believed to have finished 6th and Beth Thomson 8th but these are unconfirmed.)