Domracheva, winner of three Olympic gold medals at Sochi 2014, sealed the win in a time of 20min 35.7sec with clean shooting, beating in-form German Laura Dahlmeier by 14.3 seconds.

France's Marie Dorin Habert took third with one penalty, finishing 29.9 seconds back, edging compatriot Anais Bescond, who came fourth.

It proved to be a torrid day for Finnish star Mäkäräinen, who won the 15km race on Thursday (February 12) as she relinquished her lead at the top of the standings following a disappointing 24th-place finish with just one World Cup event remaining, due to take place from March 18 to 22 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

In perfect shooting conditions, Domracheva did not start the race particularly well as home favourite Tiril Eckhoff took an early lead, although the Belarusian and Dorin Habert were within six seconds.

The Norwegian looked in good touch on the skis but her shooting let her down, which allowed the rest of the pack to claw their way back into the race.

Dorin Habert edged in front following a rapid loop and she was closely followed by team-mate Bescond, and this pattern continued until Domracheva surged to the fore.

From that point on, she controlled the race and crossed the line ahead of Dahlmeier, who had put together an impressive performance in the latter stages.

"I am a happy lady right now," Domracheva said.

"I was not thinking so much about the competition, just focused on my own race and wish to hit all of the prone targets which I did today."

Germany's Arnd Peiffer took the men's 10km honours at the IBU World Cup as he earned a narrow victory over Frenchman Martin Fourcade ©IBU


In the men's 10km sprint race, there was a surprise winner as German Arnd Peiffer beat current overall leader Martin Fourcade of France by just 3.3 seconds.

Russia's Anton Shipulin came through to take third, while Peiffer's teammate Andi Birnbacher was fourth.

In front of a packed home crowd, Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway enjoyed an excellent first stage, however his quick shooting cost him dearly as he missed his final standing shot.

That opened up the race somewhat and Shipulin then led the chasing pack, before Fourcade, winner of the 20km race on Thursday, opened up a narrow lead over the Russian and he then demonstrated his prowess on the skis as he looked to have left the rest of the field in his wake.

But Norway's Lars Helge Birkeland, who eventually finished fifth, began to mount a serious challenge which eventually faded, and even Fourcade could not live with the pace of Peiffer, who wrestled the advantage from the Frenchman with 1.5km to go and held on to seal a shock win.

The World Cup event in the Norwegian capital is due to conclude tomorrow with the women's 4x6km relay and the men's 4.7km relay races.

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