Great Britain's Jonathan Brownlee was the male champion in both editions, while Swede Lisa Norden and Chilean Barbara Riveros Diaz won the first two women's championships.
The combined event took place the following year in Montréal, Canada on 25 June 2022.
Athletes begin by competing in super-sprint qualifiers with the top 10 finishers in each of two heats proceeding to the final.
The final day event therefore lasts approximately two and a half hours, but consists of multiple shorter, more intense races in which transition is unusually important.
The first eliminator format World Sprint champions in 2022 both represented Great Britain, Alex Yee in the male event, and Georgia Taylor-Brown in the women's equivalent.