The women’s 7.5 kilometre sprint competition opened the second day of action at the Polish venue, following yesterday’s rest day.

Bendika began the competition impressively by shooting clean in the prone stage, but one penalty in the standing section left her in third position.

She produced the fastest skiing performance of the day to retake the lead, with the Latvian triumphing in a time of 22min 0.7sec.

Karoline Erdal finished as the silver medallist at 5.7 down, with the Norwegian having shot clean during the competition.

Russia’s Anastasia Shevchenko also shot clean to finish third, ending 9.7 behind the winner.

The men’s competition saw Jaeger earn victory after a closely contes with Russia’s Said Karimulla Khalili.

Both biathletes shot clean during the 10km men’s sprint event.

Jaeger’s speed proved decisive with the Swiss athlete crossing the line in a winning time of 27:19.2.

Khalili was 7.3 behind as the runner-up.

Germany’s Johannes Kuehn rounded off the medal positions, winning bronze at 15.3 down.

Competition will continue tomorrow with the women’s 10km and men’s 12.5km pursuit races due to be held.

The European Championships are scheduled to conclude on Sunday (January 31) with relay events - the single mixed relay and 4x6km mixed relay.

Competition is open to participants from outside Europe, with the event doubling as a stop on the second-tier IBU Cup circuit.