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Learmonth and Taylor Brown held hands as they
crossed the line after organizers had earlier halved the
distance of the running section to five kilometers because of
concerns over the extreme heat.
Bermuda's Flora Duffy, who finished third behind the pair, was
elevated to first in the race that also doubled as an Olympic
qualifier.
International Triathlon Union (ITU) officials deemed the British
pair were in breach of rules that state athletes must not
"finish in a contrived tie situation where no effort to separate
the finish times has been made".
Duffy was officially awarded the win in a time of 1:40:19.
Italy's Alice Betto was second while Britain's Vicky Holland
completed the podium.
"The whole point of coming here was to check out the venue,
check out the course and see the conditions," Duffy, who missed
most of last year with injury, told reporters.
"I love racing in hot and humid weather and that felt pretty
good today."
The ITU had decided to reduce the distance of the run section
with concerns the weather conditions at the end of the race
would have fallen within "extreme levels".
The swimming and cycling segments remained the same after the
ITU deemed the water quality and temperature in the Odaiba
Marine Park course to be within regulation.
ITU regulations state that the swimming segment must be
shortened or canceled if the water temperature is above 30.9
degrees Celsius but the highest water temperature measured on
Thursday was 30.3.
The race began on time at 7:30 a.m. (2230 GMT).
On Wednesday, the ITU had moved Saturday's Paratriathlon World
Cup start time forward by one hour to avoid exposing athletes to
high temperatures.
The World Cup, a test event for next year's Paralympics, will
begin at 6:30 a.m. with all athletes expected to finish the race
by 9:30 a.m.
With less than a year to go until the start of the Olympics, how
athletes will cope with the extreme heat has been a key concern
for organizers and sports bodies.
Soaring temperatures have killed at least 57 people across Japan
since late July, highlighting the possible health threat to
athletes and fans.
Kyodo News reported last weekend that several athletes were
treated for heatstroke at the 2019 World Rowing Junior
Championships in Tokyo, which was another test event for Olympic
organizers.
(Reporting by Jack Tarrant, editing by Pritha Sarkar/Greg
Stutchbury)
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