The discipline first emerged in 1996 at a race in Maui, Hawaii, before evolving into the world-renowned XTERRA series. After four years of continental championships, ITU held its first Cross Triathlon World Championship in April 2011 in Extremadura, Spain, at the ‘Ring' complex.

Since then, champions have included Bermuda's Flora Duffy and Mexico's Francisco Serrano, who won the men's title at the inaugural World Multisport Championships Festival in Penticton, Canada in 2017, along with local favourite Melanie Mcquaid. A year later in Fyn, Denmark, it was Spain's Ruben Ruzafa and Lesley Paterson (GBR) with the titles, and at the Pontevedra 2019 World Multisport Championships, Arthur Forrisier of France and Italy's Eleanora Peroncini were crowned champions.

Arthur Serrieres (FRA) and Loanne Duvoisin (SUI) won the 2021 golds in Extremadura, Spain, and on a tough Targu Mures course in 2022 it was Serrieres successfully defending his title and Italy's Sandra Mairhofer with the women's prize. In 2023, Felix Forissier of France and Italy's Sandra Mairhofer earned the World Cross Triathlon Multisport Champion titles in Ibiza.