Eckhoff's best sprint performance so far this season was a lowly 52nd in Östersund in Sweden but she reversed her fortunes dramatically at the Italian resort with a clean-shooting display.

She came home in 21min 05.3sec after taking the lead following the standing phase and not looking back.

The Norwegian won by 12 seconds in front of Germany's Laura Dahlmeier, the defending overall World Cup champion, on the 7.5 kilometre course.

Veronika Vitkova of the Czech Republic came home 20.6 seconds adrift for bronze as both minor medallists also shot clean.

"I am very happy, I have had a very bad season so far," said Eckhoff, who won Olympic gold in the mixed relay at Sochi 2014 where she also won two bronze medals.

"I hit some targets today.

"I think I have made it [shooting] too complicated."

Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen has kept hold of the overall World Cup lead which she gained at the previous leg of the season in Ruhpolding in Germany, despite finishing down in 26th place today.

She has 504 points and leads Slovakia's Anastasiya Kuzmina by 11.

Italy's Dorothea Wierer is third on 435.

The men's sprint will take place tomorrow over 10km.

The World Cup, which concludes on Sunday (January 21), is the last major biathlon action before the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics which begin on February 9.