US athletes swept the podium at the ITU's World Series event in Yokohama ©ITU

Katie Zaferes of the United States today won her third consecutive World Triathlon Series (WTS) event as she held off all comers in Yokohama, while in Cagliari Britain’s Rio 2016 champion Alistair Brownlee and team-mate Sophie Coldwell earned wins in the World Cup – the International Triathlon Union’s second tier event.

Zaferes arrived in the Japanese city having claimed gold in Abu Dhabi and Bermuda, and the competition proved a triumph not just for her but for her team-mates Summer Rappaport and Taylor Spivey as they claimed the top three places, respectively.

It was the fourth WTS podium sweep for the United States and its first since 2016.

Britain’s Jess Learmonth had the fastest swim, with Maya Kingma of the Netherlands following her out, and with the US trio taking the next three places.

After a seven-strong group had broken away in the bike ride, Zafares and Rappaport pulled away early on the run, and Spivey eventually beat her training partner, Japan’s Yuko Takahashi, to bronze.

Zafares made her winning move in the last of the 10 kilometres, winning in 1hr 52min 12sec, with Rappaport crossing 21 seconds later.

Spivey clocked 1:53.29.

Frenchman Vincent Luis, the overall series leader, won the men’s race against a field that included Spain's multiple world champion Mario Mola, who dropped away from contention after a disappointing swim.

Luis moved clear on the final 10km run to beat South Africa’s Henri Schoeman and Bence Bicsak of Hungary.

Brownlee, 31, won the sprint distance event by a second from Germany’s Justus Nieschlag, while Coldwell finished 11 seconds clear of Germany’s Nina Eim.