Nikitina ensured her final race as the defending World Cup champion ended in style, producing a dominant display at the Latvian track.

The 27-year-old achieved a time of 51.85 seconds in the first run of the competition to top the standings at the halfway mark.

She sealed victory with a second run of 52.02, giving her an overall time of 1min 43.87sec.

Nikitina, who was banned for doping at Sochi 2014 before the punishment was overturned on appeal, has now won the European title on three occasions.

The Russian’s previous two victories were achieved at Igls in Austria.

“Of course, I’m really happy today," Nikitina said.

“The win has given me even more confidence for the World Championships.

“But I love the track in Altenberg anyway so I can’t wait.”

Switzerland’s Marina Gilardoni finished as the silver medallist by finishing 0.34sec behind the winner in 1:44.21.

Bronze was earned by Austria’s Janine Flock, who ended in 1:44.31.

Lölling missed out on a podium finish for only the second time in eight races, with the German ending in eighth place.

The result did not impact the overall World Cup standings, as Lölling triumphed on a total of 1,632 points.

Flock and Nikitina rounded off the top three on 1,614 and 1,595 respectively.

The second two-man bobsleigh competition of the weekend rounded off the World Cup season.

Latvia's Oskars Kibermanis won his first World Cup title yesterday with Matiss Miknis on their home track.

The duo repeated the feat today by achieving a time of 1:39.18 to clinch the European Championship title.

Switzerland’s Simon Friedli and Gregory Jones finished as silver medallists in 1:39.54, with Canada's Justin Kripps and Sam Giguere third on 1:39.59.

Olympic and world champion Francesco Friedrich did not compete in the competition, having sealed the overall IBSF World Cup title yesterday.

He ended top of the standings on 1,530, with Kibermanis second on 1,478.

Kripps completed the top three with a score of 1,466.