Iden Gustav from Norway becomes first in the men's group with a time of 1 hours 53 minutes and 11 seconds at the 2018 ITU Triathlon World Cup held in Weihai, Shandong province on Sept 22. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2018 ITU Triathlon World Cup kicked off in Weihai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province on Sept 22, with participants from Norway and the United States becoming the champions of the men's and women's groups.

Nearly 110 athletes from 38 countries and regions participated in the tournament in Weihai, during which they completed a 51.5-kilometer long series of activities, including a 1.5-kilometer swimming, a 40-kilometer cycling and a 10-kilometer running event.

After fierce competition, Iden Gustav from Norway and Spivey Taylor from the US claimed the top prizes of the men's and women's groups with a respective time of 1 hours 53 minutes and 11 seconds and 2 hours 8 minutes and 5 seconds.

The Weihai Extreme Triathlon Series was also held on the same day, which included a 128-kilometer series, a 128-kilometer relay, a 51.5-kilometer series and a 25.75-kilometer series.

A total of 910 athletes from nine countries and regions took part in the competition, who were divided into 38 groups.

Athletes from Weihai performed well at the competition, with participants from the city becoming the champions of the 51.5-kilometer series and 25.75-kilometer series.

The ITU Triathlon World Cup, second only to the world championships, is an Olympic qualifying contest which is held annually across the world and it is the second time that Weihai has hosted the competition.