German biathlete Denise Herrmann fended off a host of big names to claim gold in the women's biathlon 15-km individual pursuit on Monday.

"It's a dream you have as a child and the dream came true today. It's unbelievable," Herrmann said after the grueling battle. "It becomes more and more realistic. I'm super happy. I phoned my boyfriend and my mother at home, and they are going totally crazy."

The three-time Olympian secured gold in a time of 44 min 12.7 sec, which included a single one-minute penalty at the second prone section. She switched from cross-country skiing to biathlon in April 2016 after winning a relay bronze medal at Sochi 2014.

Anais Chevalier-Bouchet of France took silver, with Marte Olsbu Roeiseland of Norway bagging bronze.

Roeiseland got proceedings underway, with the rest of the athletes starting at 30-second intervals as the sun began to set over the National Biathlon Centre in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province.

Herrmann was perfect in her first standing shoot, but was quickly matched by Sweden's Elvira Oeberg, who kept the pressure on with clean shooting and her trademark powerful skiing.

When a miss by Herrmann briefly dented her hopes, a wayward shot by Oeberg allowed the German to retake the lead.

Competitors raced the course in five ski loops, shooting twice in the prone position and twice standing between each lap. In the individual race, one minute is added for each miss, making shooting accuracy especially important.

Roeiseland, the overall World Cup leader this season, skied solidly throughout but missed two shots－one prone and one standing. Missing her last standing shot proved to be an expensive mistake as Herrmann hit all five in a perfect series. Roeiseland claimed bronze in a time of 44:28.0.

Chevalier-Bouchet missed her last shot, but skied superbly on the last leg to leapfrog Roeiseland. The Frenchwoman took silver, 9.4 seconds behind Herrmann.

Defending Olympic champion Hanna Oberg of Sweden finished 16th in 46:35.8 after three costly misses. She was the only medalist from the 2018 Games to return to compete in the event in Beijing.

Marketa Davidova of the Czech Republic, the leader of the World Cup individual standings, also missed her last shot and finished sixth, 31.9 seconds behind Herrmann.