Italian Ferraro Giuseppe and Chinese Xing Lin took first place in the men's and women's category respectively in the triathlon event held in Mumbai on Sunday as part of the fourth CISM Military World Games.

The gruelling event which involved participants swimming 1.5 kilometres in the sea, cycling 40 kilometres and running 10 kilometres was contested by 87 men and 32 women.

While Giuseppe trailed in the swimming round, he managed to get into a leading position in the cycling and managed to consolidate it in the running event to win the triathlon.

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"I was in the second group of the swimming event but I knew that I could make up time in running. It was a bit hard with a knee injury and it was very hot and humid," he said.

Lvan Vasilev from Russia [Images] finished second while Giglmayr Andrias from Austria finished third.

While China's Lin was in the leading group from the first event, she managed to carve out a lead over her competitors in the running event.

Whipple Justine from the United States finished second and Eugeny Koshelnikova came third in the women's category.

Justine, who is in the US Marine Corps, said she trailed in the swimming but managed to get into a decent position by the second lap of cycling.

"My stomach was really hurting which made it difficult to catch up with her (Xing)," Justine, who is the national triathlon champion in her country, said.

Hundreds of city residents woke early and lined the streets of south Mumbai to watch the competition which was the concluding event of the Games.