As the weather returned to more a conventional winter climate, there was no change on the podium as Laura Dahlmeier claimed another gold medal as part of the German women's relay team. 

The penultimate women's race of the Biathlon World Championships went with the formbook as Dahlmeier led home the German team after being put in position to do so by Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt and Franziska Hildebrand

Ukraine won a surprise silver following excellent legs by Anastasiya Merkushyna and Olena Pidhrushna, with France overcoming a meltdown to finish third ahead of the Czech Republic

French build early advantage before Aymonier falls apart at the range

After the first leg, Anais Chevalier had built a 7.5 second lead for France ahead of Italy's Lisa Vittozzi, with Hinz three seconds further back in third. 

Chevalier handed over to Celia Aymonier who hit five from five at the prone shoot, before having a disaster in the standing position. Aymonier missed three shots to drop from first to ninth, putting her 37.4 seconds behind Federica Sanfilippo who held off the charge of Hammerschmidt to give Italy a six second-lead at the halfway stage. 

Hildebrand hits ten from ten to hand Dahlmeier unassailable lead

Starting the third 6km leg six seconds down, Hildebrand was soon into the lead ahead of Italy's Individual bronze medal winner Alexia Runggaldier before even getting to the range. 

Franziska Hildebrand shot ten from ten for Germany (image source: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

With rifle in hand, Hildebrand was unstoppable, hitting all ten of her targets to put considerable distance into her nearest rivals who each used up extra rounds. 

By the end of the third relay leg, Germany had a 9.7 second lead over Ukraine, with Merkushyna having put in a remarkable final lap in a chase of the lead. Runggaldier had done enough to maintain a provisional podium position, with Veronika Vitkova (Czech Republic) and Justine Braisaz (France) rounding out the top five. 

Dahlmeier claims gold despite trio of misses, with Pidhrushna holding off big-guns to grab Ukrainian silver

Having already won three gold medals during these World Championships, it was going to take the ultimate capitulation for Dahlmeier to miss out on a fourth in the relay. 

The chasing pack try to overhaul Germany's lead (image source: Franck Fife/Getty Images)

Setting off with nearly ten seconds worth of a lead, Dahlmeier had extended her advantage despite a miss during her prone shoot, with the likes of Dorothea Wierer, Marie Dorin-Habert and Gabriela Koukalová all doing their best to claw back the deficit. 

As the quickest skier in the race, Dahlmeier managed to add time during the second lap which meant that despite two failures at the standing shoot she left for home with a comfortable lead.

The chase for silver was destined to go down to the wire, with Pidhrushna and Dorin-Habert doing enough to move past Koukalová on the final climb and claim the final podium positions behind Dahlmeier. 

Saturday sees the men's relay take place, with France, Germany, Norway and Russia likely to be battling for the medals before competition in Hochfilzen comes to an end on Sunday with both Mass Start races. 

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