Cobb, who served as chief of competition for the biathlon events at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, saw off competition from Baiba Broka of Latvia and Poland’s Dagmara Gerasimuk to secure the role.

The former biathlete was appointed as chair of the IBU Technical Committee in 2010 and is the current chief executive of USA Biathlon.

Each candidate was given three minutes to present their manifesto and plans for the future before the matter was put to a vote, with Cobb emerging triumphant in the first ballot.

The American is targeting future development of the sport as a key target as he hopes to make biathlon “more global”.

"It is a great honour," Cobb said.

"I am really touched and thrilled.

"Biathlon was a part of my life for the last 25 years; it has been my love, my passion and my job.

"I am looking forward to the future and my role in growing the sport.

"As the sport gets more popular, we have more opportunities to advance the sport and make it more global. 

"Last season we saw medals from China and North America."

The 12th Regular IBU Congress began with an opening speech from President Anders Besseberg, who discussed a number of topics, including gender equality, the rebranding of the organisation and its increased digital presence.

The Norwegian also described the Junior Cup series, launched last year, as the "biggest development project" within the IBU.

A financial report from Klaus Leistner, the IBU vice-president of finances, was given, during which he announced KPMG had issued the governing body with a clean audit certificate.

""The IBU is a highly successful International Federation which has grown rapidly and is financially very healthy," the auditors wrote.

The proposed budget for the next three years was then approved by the Congress.

During the Congress, the IBU will also choose the host cities for the 2020 and 2021 World Championships.

Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic, Oberhof in Germany, the Italian resort of Antholz and Pokljuka in Slovenia are battling for the right to stage the event in four years’ time.

The Czech town, Antholz and Pokljuka have also put themselves forward the 2021 World Championships, with Tyumen in Russia the other region in contention.