Varvynets secured the women's honours after finishing the 7.5 kilometres course in a time of 20min 54.1sec.

The Ukrainian, who shot clean, beat Chloe Chevalier of France to top the podium.

Chevalier, winner of the 15km individual event on Wednesday (January 24), took silver this time round as she crossed the line 12.5 seconds slower than Varvynets.

Fuyuko Tachizaki made history as the first Japanese athlete to win a major international biathlon medal as she earned bronze.

Varvynets admitted she was frustrated with her performance in the individual race, where she was fifth, and was glad to return to form with gold in the sprint.

"I was more disappointed with my skiing," she said. 

"Today, I just focused on the shooting. 

"Still I knew that it would take more than that to win, with all of the other fast girls."

Rastorgujevs amassed one penalty on his way to claiming the men's title.

The Latvian finished the race, held over 10km, in 24:03.0 to oust Russian Alexander Loginov.

Loginov won his second consecutive European Championships silver medal as he was 5.5 seconds adrift.

Krasimir Anev of Bulgaria shot clean to seal bronze.

The Championships are due to continue tomorrow when men's and women's pursuit events will be held.