Alina Raikova retained her women’s 15 kilometres individual biathlon title at the 2017 Winter Universiade today to secure host nation Kazakhstan’s first gold medal of this year's edition ©Almaty 2017

Alina Raikova retained her women’s 15 kilometres individual biathlon title here at the 2017 Winter Universiade today to secure host nation Kazakhstan’s first gold medal of this year's edition.

Competing under heavy snowfall at the Alatau Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon Complex, Raikova managed to cover the distance in 59 mins 48.7sec.

Silver went to compatriot Galina Vishnevskaya, who finished with a time of 1:02:09.8.

Ukraine’s Nadiia Bielkina took bronze in 1:02:12.3, while Kazakhstan’s Darya Ussanova and Yelizaveta Belchenko came fourth and fifth respectively.

France's Baptiste Jouty topped the men's 20km individual podium ©Almaty 2017/Facebook
France's Baptiste Jouty topped the men's 20km individual podium ©Almaty 2017/Facebook

In the men’s 20km individual event, France’s Baptiste Jouty triumphed in front of Russian duo Sergey Korastylev and Semen Suchilov.

A time of 1:03:41.0 saw the 25-year-old finish 41 seconds clear of Korastylev and a further 24.5 seconds faster than Suchilov.

Reigning champion Dmytro Rusinov of Ukraine ended the competition down in 14th place, more than four minutes off the pace.

Biathlon medal action is due to continue on Thursday (February 2) with the women’s 7.5km and men’s 10km sprints taking centre stage.