Republique secured victory in the men's 15 kilometres race in a time of 44min 30.1sec, beating nearest challenger Mikita Labastau of Belarus by 2.9 seconds.

The bronze medal was earned by Danilo Riethmueller of Germany, whose poor shooting ended any chance of taking home gold.

"This morning I didn't feel particularly good," the victorious Frenchman said. 

"I started slowly, missed at the first prone but then started to feel better. 

"As my legs started to feel stronger and stronger and conditions got more and more difficult I felt I just need to keep fighting and see how the race develops. 

"I felt no additional pressure just because it is the IBU Youth Junior World Championships; I approached the competition as any other at the IBU Junior Cup."

Meng, a regular competitor on the IBU Cup and World Cup circuits, dominated the women's 12.5km race and crossed the line in 40:06.7.

Germany claimed silver and bronze as Juliane Fruehwirt and Franziska Pfnuer finished second and third respectively.

"I am really, really happy today,” said Meng. 

“This is not just my win, it is the win of my coach, team technicians and waxers.

"I feel the progress has been substantial. 

"I also feel that competing at the BMW IBU World Cup level and IBU Cup level helped me get used to the stress of big competitions. 

"It feels great that I was able to show that at the IBU Junior World Championships."

The Championships in the Slovakian resort continue tomorrow with the youth relay races for men and women.