The 56-year-old retains the role following an impressive four years' in office that saw her lead triathlon to arguably its most successful Olympic appearance ever at London 2012.

In the end, it proved a comfortable victory for Casado as she claimed 82 votes from the 120 national federations in attendance.

Yu claimed 33 votes while five abstained from the vote.

"I would like to thank all those who voted for me," Casado (pictured top, left) told the delegates at the Viaduct Events Centre.

"Following your vote, I promise that I will continue to push as hard as I can over the next four years to help the sport continue to grow."

Casado succeeded Les McDonald as the ITU President in 2008 and two years later was made a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), where she is seen as one of the organisation's rising stars.

It is a rise that now looks set to continue.

Meanwhile, Yu proved gracious in defeat.

Although defeated by Marisol Casado, Kyung-sun Yu vowed to continue working hard for triathlon

"I would like to congratulate Marisol Casado for her re-election as the President of the International Triathlon Union and I wish her success in the performance of her duties," he said in a statement.

"I would like to thank all those who voted for me and all those who offered support and advice.

"I promise to continue working hard for the improvement of our sport and the wellbeing of the triathletes."

Elsewhere in the elections, Loreen Barnett of Canada also won another four-year term after being re-elected as secretary general, meaning the ITU remains the only International Federation in the Olympic Games with women in the top two leadership roles.

Barnett saw off the challenge of Britain's Sarah Springman, Mexico's Antonio Álvarez and Liechtenstein's Philip Schädler.

Sarah Springman was re-elected as an ITU vice-president, alongside Antonio Álvarez and Bill Walker

However, there was good news for Springman and Álvarez in the ITU vice-presidency race as both retained their positions.

Bill Walker of Australia was also re-elected as a vice-president, while Argentina's Alberto Raúl Fonollosa, Brazil's Carlos Alberto Machado Fróes and Canada's Stephen Holmes failed to secure one of the three available positions.

Finally, three members to the ITU Executive Board were re-elected including Ria Damgren Nilsson of Sweden, Ahmed Nasser of Egypt and Shin Otsuka of Japan, while Debbie Alexander of South Africa was elected to the Board for the first time to complete the elections.

The ITU Congress closed a highly successful week at the Grand Final of the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series in which Britain's Jonathan Brownlee and Sweden's Lisa Nordén were crowned the male and female 2012 ITU World Champions respectively.

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