One of the country's trio of winners in Germany was Ivan Golubkov, who came out on top in the men's sitting in 14 min 17.4sec.

The United States' Daniel Cnossen was runner-up in 14:27.6, while Canada's Collin Cameron came third in 14:53.2.

Also tasting victory for Russia were Ekaterina Rumyantseva in women's standing and Vladislav Lekomtsev in men's standing.

Rumyantseva prevailed in 12:33.6, with Ukraine's Oleksandra Kononova second in 13:15.2 and Poland's Iweta Faron third in 13:23.5.

Lekomtsev, meanwhile, triumphed in 10:58.6 and was followed in the standings by compatriot Aleksandr Pronkov and Ukraine's Serhii Romaniuk in 11:35.5 and 11:47.6, respectively.

Among the other successful skiers today was American Kendall Gretsch, the winner of the women's sitting in 15:48.0.

Home favourite Anja Wicker took the silver medal in 16:38.7, while the bronze went to Gretsch's compatriot Oksana Masters in 16:48.0.

Today's two other gold medallists were Ukraine's Oksana Shyshkova in women's visually impaired in 13:46.0 and Belarus' Yury Holub in men's visually impaired in 11:28.3.

Shyshkova was joined on the podium by Germany's Clara Klug, the runner-up in 13:48.6, and Russia's Vera Khlyzova, third-place finisher in 14:15.9.

The top three in men's visually impaired was rounded off by Russia's Nikolai Polukhin in 11:42.5 and Belarus' Vasili Shaptsiaboi in 12:18.3.

Action in Altenberg and Dresden continues tomorrow, with the second round of sprint biathlon events.