The 25-year-old clocked 1min 48.80sec after her two runs to triumph at the Austrian venue.

As well as World Cup points, the event was especially important for Europeans as it doubled as the Continental Championships.

Nikitina's victory will not help the controversy surrounding the sport, however, as it comes just weeks after she was stripped of her bronze medal from Sochi 2014 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on November 22.

She was also banned for life from the Olympics by the IOC after a ruling by the Oswald Commission, tasked with investigating Russian doping.

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) suspended all sliding athletes sanctioned by the IOC following its verdict but its own hearing panel, which operates independently from the governing body, then cleared the nine Russians involved to compete.

They claimed that there was "not sufficient evidence" to keep the suspensions in place with Nikitina and her team-mates pledging to appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The IBSF said they were considering legal action after the hearing panel's ruling.

"Innsbruck is my track," said Nikitina following her victory. 

"It's short and pretty easy so it's good for speedy starters. 

"And I had two great heats, too."

Two Canadians were second and third to complete the World Cup podium positions.

Elisabeth Vathje won her third silver medal of the season, clocking 1:49.38, with Mirela Rahneva third in 1:49.44.

Germany's Jacqueline Lölling, the defending overall champion who has won two World Cup events this term, was fourth overall in 1:49.47 which gave her European silver.

Austria's Janine Flock won European bronze on her home ice, finishing fifth overall in 1:49.61.

Lölling still leads the World Cup standings with 1,002 points, with Vathje second on 966 and Rahneva third on 920.

Nikitina is sixth after being forced to miss the leg in Whistler in Canada.

In the men's event, Latvia's Martins Dukurs won the World Cup and the European title with a combined time of 1:46.03.

Dukurs, who is hoping to win the World Cup for the ninth time in a row, now boasts the same number of European titles and has won on the World Cup circuit 50 times.

He is also set to inherit the Sochi 2014 Olympic gold medal after initial champion Aleksandr Tretyakov was also implicated among the suspended Russians.

"At the beginning of my career I had never thought to win 50 World Cup races," the Latvian said.

"For me it’s always step by step and one race at a time. 

"I am thankful that I managed this, also with my whole family."

South Korea's World Cup leader Sungbin Yun finished second today in 1:46.18.

Russia's Nikita Tregubov, who has not been implicated in the scandal, won World Cup bronze and European silver in 1:46.52.

Axel Jungk of Germany was fourth overall and won European bronze in 1:47.00.

Yun tops the World Cup standings on 1,095 with Dukurs second on 1046.

The Latvian's brother, Tomass Dukurs, is third on 928.

Two-man and women's bobsleigh competitions will be held tomorrow.