It marked the 18th world title of her illustrious career and her fourth of this edition in the Finnish resort. 

The 36-year-old, who broke her pole in the early stages, formed part of a group of nine skiers who broke clear before battling over the final stages.

Swedish rival Charlotte Kalla also broke a pole on the penultimate climb to leave the dominant Norwegians to battle it out.

Bjørgen crossed the line in 1min 08min 36.8sec to win by just 1.9 seconds from team-mates Heidi Weng and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen.

Wang was awarded silver and Jacobsen bronze.

Ragnhild Haga also claimed a Norwegian fourth place 7.4 seconds behind. 

"It was probably the first time I have broken pole in a race," said Bjørgen. 

"Luckily that happened before the downhill and did not affect the race at all. 

"I skied a lot in the front to stay away from trouble - it was fast conditions. 

"Lahti 2017 has been a big goal for me and to win four gold medals is amazing."

United States's Jessica Diggins finished first non-Norwegian in fifth 10.4 seconds behind.

Kalla placed seventh.

Poland also claimed large hill ski jumping gold in the Finnish resort today.

Piotr Żyła, Dawid Kubacki, Maciej Kot and Kamil Stoch teamed up for a score of 1104.2.

Anders Fannemel, Johann Andre Forfang, Daniel-André Tande and Andreas Stjernen took Norwegian silver on 1078.5.

Michael Hayboeck, Manuel Fettner, Gregor Schlierenzauer and Stefan Kraft managed 1068.9 to take Austrian bronze.