In the women's race, Duffy produced a brilliant first run lap to set up her victory over runner-up Pamela Oliveira of Brazil and bronze medallist Claudia Rivas – the home runner becoming the first Mexican woman to earn a World Cup medal since 1993.

Duffy (pictured top, in centre alongside Oliveira on left and Rivas) posted a time of 2 hours 13min 17 sec to finish 30 seconds ahead of Oliveira.

"I'm starting to tear up I'm so happy," said the victor afterwards.

"It's been a long road to get here.

"Today was a hard race and a hard course, but I think that's what I needed to make me focus and really push.

"It totally played to my strengths today."

In the men's race, an incredible third-lap run led De Cuyper (pictured below) to the win ahead of second-placed Ryan Sissons of New Zealand and bronze medallist Danylo Sapunov of the Ukraine.

De Cuyper crossed the finish line in 2:02:34 to beat Sissons by 16 seconds.


While the high temperatures for the women were punishing, the men battled through even more intense conditions.

With a start time close to high noon, the men dived into 28.6-degree Celsius water and ran under the sun at its strongest.

"In the first lap I felt very bad," De Cuyper said of his run.

"I thought 'Let's get water and cool down'.

"Once I was fresh, I had some good feeling in my legs.

"I thought I could push and catch some of the athletes.

"I came back and suddenly I was in first position."

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