Loch has six appeal in Sochi

The German has now surpassed his gold medal haul from last year and will take some stopping in the overall standings, though Wolfgang Kindl is still only 105 points behind.

It was the scene of Loch's second Olympic gold medal two years ago, and it proved a happy hunting ground again as he beat Kindl, of Austria, into second place.

Italy's Dominik Fischnaller completed the medals by coming third, his first podium finish since clinching silver at the Park City sprint in December.

There could hardly have been a closer finish in the team relay as Tatiana Ivanova, Semen Pavlichenko and doubles duo Andrey Bogdanov and Andrey Medvedev secured victory by just five thousandths of a second over Germany.

But world champions Germany, comprised of Natalie Geisenberger, Felix Loch, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, moved into top place in the overall standings after previous leaders Latvia failed to finish.

Sportsbeat 2016