Kemper and his mates had their hands full with a full compliment of Aussie stars. Kemper took an early lead through the first lap of the swim until his teammate Andy Potts overtook him and exited the swim with a 15-second lead. The lead on the swim did not last on the bike. Reed entered the transition first for the U.S.; the sixth man overall. Kemper followed leading a big pack of triathletes. Kemper, who had the fastest run at the Athens Olympic Games, reeled in the field. Reed had the lead for a while, but Kemper, Plata and Aussie Courtney Atkinson separated themselves from the pack.

Atkinson grabbed the lead on the final lap of the run and held on for the win in 1 hour, 47 minutes, 8 seconds. Kemper finished in 1:47:15 and Plata was third in 1: 47:24. Reed also made it into the top 10, placing sixth. The U.S. had seven men finish in the top 20. Laura (Reback) Bennett finished eighth for the best U.S. showing among the women.

The Ishigaki World Cup was not originally on Kemper's 2005 race schedule, but his desire to hold on to his top ranking sent him oversees. Prior to this year, the best ITU ranking Kemper, a two-time Olympian, had achieved was fifth. Early this year Kemper posted a second-place finish at the ITU Honolulu World Cup on April 17 and a victory at the ITU World Cup race in Mazatlan, Mexico on April 24, his second career World Cup win.

Kemper told InsideTri.com on April 28, "To be the first American man on top of the ITU World rankings is pretty amazing. I'm super excited and I feel lucky and blessed and honored to be up there with (former number 1) triathletes like Greg Bennett, Hamish Carter and Simon Lessing.

"That said," added Kemper, "I realize it's a fleeting thing and part of it comes from the fact that several top Olympians have taken time off and aren't at their best this early. Still, I can't deny I've had some good races and it's real. My goal was to race well and get to the top of my sport - I just never thought it would come this soon."