Herrmann, who made the transition to biathlon last year, clinched her maiden World Cup triumph by clocking a time of 19min 54.8sec.

The German marked just her 12th World Cup appearance by finishing 12.5 seconds clear of France’s Justine Braisaz, who came through to take the silver medal.

Braisaz shot clean but could not keep pace with Herrmann, while Juliya Dzhyma of Ukraine claimed her second bronze medal of the opening event of the season.

"I was really focused on the shooting today," Herrmann, who won her Olympic bronze medal in the 4x5 kilometres relay at Sochi 2014, said.

"I tried to stay clean, but on the second standing. 

"But on the track, it went really well. 

"Just like the individual, I tried to keep more speed on each lap."

Olympic sprint champion Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia started the race well as she cleaned the first stage to open up a five-second gap between her and the rest of the field.

Kuzmina was hampered, however, by two standing penalties, forcing her out of contention.

Braisaz had made a fast start in the shooting and backed it up with a blistering performance on the skis to move 4.4 seconds in front of Dzhyma.

Herrmann was slowly building a challenge to the Frenchwomen and was able to recover from a standing penalty.

She then seized control of the race and skied through to secure a superb win.

The event in Östersund is due continue tomorrow with the men's 10km sprint race.