Dahlmeier, who was the star of the recent World Championships with five gold medals, reigned supreme in the sprint on Thursday (March 2) and continued her excellent form by crossing the line in a time of 27 min 58sec.

Kaisa Mäkäräinen of Finland came through to take second place although she was over a minute slower than the formidable German, with France's Anais Bescond rounding off the podium.

The result for the 23-year-old German saw her clinch her ninth IBU World Cup win of the season and she now has a score of 1,023 points in the race for the overall crown.

Gabriela Koukalová of the Czech Republic, who endured another disappointing afternoon as she finished eighth, remains Dahlmeier's nearest challenger on 911.

Mäkäräinen occupies third with a total of 873.

"This competition was really nice for me, I shot 20/20, it was perfect from the first moment to the last," Dahlmeier said.

"This season was good for me, I have been always in the top 10, the seventh place has been the worst result for me.”

Fourcade, who secured the overall men's crown with a third-place finish in the sprint yesterday, sealed his 12th triumph of the season by clocking 31:24.2 with clean shooting on the 12.5km course.

Russia's Anton Shipulin also managed to shoot clean but was unable to match the Frenchman's pace on the skis and eventually crossed the line 34.5 slower.

Austria's Julian Eberhard, winner of the sprint, added another medal to his collection at the competition in Pyeongchang, which is doubling as a test event for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, as he claimed the bronze.

"It was important for me to come here and to smell the atmosphere," said Fourcade. 

"It’s strange because everything I have seen the last days will be different next February.

"It was not far from perfect race, there were others behind me, they kept pushing and pushing. 

"I keep the perfect race for next winter."

The IBU World Cup in Pyeongchang concludes tomorrow with the women's and men's relay races.