Dahlqvist triumphed in a time of 2min 42.89sec as she tightened her grip on the World Cup standings.

Her gold medal-winning performance follows her sprint wins in Ruka in Finland and Norwegian city Lillehammer.

"After the qualification, I felt better and better," said the Swede.

"I sometimes need some racing to fully wake up.

"This competition is tougher than it probably looks.

"With the altitude and the course, it is not easy to beat them all.

"But I am proud that I can repeat myself."

Nadine Fähndrich gave the home fans reason to cheer as she challenged for the lead, only to fall 0.34 short of Dahlqvist.

"I already felt like I could reach for a podium last year but then I was so unlucky," said Fähndrich.

"That moment was in my head until today and I knew I wanted to make up for it, in front of my home crowd."

Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampič was 0.74 further back in third place as American athlete Rosie Brennan finished fourth.

Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo strengthened his overall World Cup lead with his second sprint win of the campaign.

Klæbo claimed victory in 2:22.84 – 0.87 ahead of Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, while France’s Richard Jouve was 1.23 behind in third.