Wierer shot clean on her way as she crossed the line in a time of 41min 29sec to top the podium.

Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen was unable to mark her 35th birthday with a win as she finished 12.7 seconds adrift in second place.

Third place went to Canada's Rosanna Crawford, who recorded a career-best result by taking home the bronze medal.

The result saw Mäkäräinen make inroads on Anastasia Kuzmina of Slovakia's lead at the summit of the overall standings.

The Finnish biathlete now trails the double Olympic sprint champion, who could only manage ninth today, by 25 points.

Wierer's triumph in the German resort saw her climb into third place.

The Italian, who has 378 points, overtook French rival Justine Braisaz by virtue of her victory.

"I am happy about this," Wierer said.

"I really like this place and the hard conditions are good for my skiing style instead of the soft conditions. 

"I knew this was all about the shooting. 

"In the last individual competitions, I shot really bad. 

"But in the last few weeks I am feeling very confident about my shooting."

Nadezhda Skardino of Belarus claimed the first crystal globe of her career as she finished at the top of the standings for the women's 15km event.

Skardino sealed the title with a seventh-place result today.

The event in Ruhpolding continues tomorrow with the men's 4x7.5km relay race.