Intro:

The South African and Australian both record victories in Chengdu

Script:

South Africa's Wian Sullwald and Australian Gillian Backhouse both recorded maiden victories in the ITU World Cup by winning the Chengdu leg on Saturday

Twenty-year-old Sullwald became only the third South African to win an ITU World Cup when he saw off the challenge of American Kevin McDowell and France's Aurelien Lebrun.

Home athlete Li Minghao led after the men's swim but the cycle portion split the group up. McDowell's second-place finish was remarkable as it came in just his second World Cup event, and marked a remarkable return to health after overcoming cancer.

In the women's event, Backhouse improved on her previous World Cup best of 15th to take the win from Jess Broderick and Claire Michel.

Backhouse overcame warm and muggy conditions to win the race by 29 seconds from the American and Belgian opponents.

The Queenslander kicked clear in the run leg and never looked back for her best finish at World Cup level.