In the women's 12.5 kilometre individual, Bened was clear of the field by nearly 90 seconds, finishing with a perfect target accuracy in a time of 35min 01.4sec.

Henrieta Horvatova of Slovakia claimed the silver medal 1min 25.4sec behind the Frenchwoman, having only missed one target.

Completing the podium close behind her was Beatrice Trabucchi of Italy, also only missing one target.

Switzerland's Amy Baserga will lament her accuracy, having finished less than 17 seconds behind Trabucchi, but crucially forced to take two penalty laps.

Paula Botet of France completed the top five under two minutes behind her compatriot Bened.

In the men's 15km individual, Lipowitz won by a significantly smaller margin, but still had 11 seconds over his nearest challenger, clocking a time of 38:37.1.

Alex Cisar of Slovenia finished second having had to take a late penalty lap, dropping him behind the German who had one in the previous round of shooting.

The bronze medal went to France's Emilien Claude, 37.9 seconds adrift of Lipowitz with two missed targets.

Completing the top five were Norway's Mats Oeverby and Czech Republic's Jonas Marecek.