Alm, who won the women's sprint final yesterday, ran the anchor leg for Denmark and crossed the line 16 seconds in front of nearest challenger Judith Wyder of Switzerland, who were forced to settle for silver.

The Danish quartet, which also included Cecilie Klysner, Tue Lassen and Søren Bobach, clocked a time of 52min 35sec to ensure they topped the podium.

Switzerland, whose team was comprised of Wyder, Rahel Friederich, Florian Howald and Martin Hubmann, couldn't fend off the rampant Danes as they were second, with Lina Strand, Gustav Bergman, Jonas Leandersson and Helena Jansson taking home bronze for hosts Sweden.

The Swedes looked well place for gold thanks to a rapid third leg from Leandersson, who had opened up a 12 second advantage over their Scandinavian rivals before she handed over to Jansson.

Alm began the fourth and final leg at a rapid speed and had wiped out the deficit to her Swedish opponent by the time the pair had reached the first control.

Wyder had also managed to catch and pass Jansson, and it quickly became evident that the battle for the gold medal would be between Denmark and Switzerland.

The Dane then broke clear, leaving the rest of the field in her wake on her way to securing the world title for her country.

"We have been training a lot together in Aarhus and the gap has been much less this year," Alm said.

"Last year it was expected we should win. 

"This year it wasn’t that. 

"I am almost more happy this time."

Denmark's head coach Lars Lindstrøm added: “The Sprint Relay is something special for us and I knew we could do very well.

"I knew we could do very well, but some-one could have been stronger."