Eckhoff headed into the pursuit event having already earned sprint and mixed team relay gold medals at the Slovenian venue.

She completed the women’s 10 kilometre pursuit competition in a time of 30min 38.1sec.

Eckhoff received two penalties during the shooting sections in the event, but crucially shot clean in the last standing stage to remain clear of her rivals.

Lisa Theresa Hauser finished as the runner-up at 17.3 down after one penalty, with the Austrian having shot clean in the final three shooting stages.

France’s Anais Chevalier-Bouchet finished as the bronze medallist, ending 33 seconds behind the winner with two penalties.

She held off a charge from Italy’s Dorothea Wierer, who shot clean throughout the competition to rise from 20^th position at the start to fourth, ending just 12 seconds off a podium place.

"It is amazing, I am very, very satisfied," Eckhoff said.

"I cannot say anything more.

"I think I did a really good pursuit.

"I was a little bit bad on the first shooting but I am happy with my last standing - it was very good."

France’s Emilien Jacquelin successfully defended his men’s 12.5km pursuit title, shooting clean throughout the race to pull clear.

A superb performance saw him retain the title in a time of 31:22.1.

Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson emerged as the winner of a head-to-head battle with Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe to secure the silver medal.

Samuelsson finished 7.3 seconds behind the winner with no shooting penalties to his name.

Boe was left settling for the bronze medal, with the Norwegian crossing the line 0.8 seconds after Samuelsson.