Anchored by Franziska Hildebrand, the German team, which also included Nadine Horchler, Maren Hammerschmidt and Denise Herrmann, clocked a time of 1 hour 7min 35.6sec.

Norway’s Kaia Woeien Nicolaisen, Hilde Fenne, Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu were second, 22.8 seconds adrift, while a photo finish was needed to decide third place.

The Czech team of Jessica Jislova, Eva Puskarcikova, Lucie Charvatova and Gabriela Koukalova managed to edge out Sweden by the narrowest of margins to round off the podium.

The result saw Germany, who have won every women's World Cup relay race this season, move to an insurmountable total of 300 points.

"We are a strong team, but relays are always a bit different," said Hildebrand.

There was another victory at the competition in Pyeongchang, which is doubling as a test event for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, for dominant Frenchman Martin Fourcade as he helped his nation win the men's 4x7.5km race in 1:12.09.

Russia were able to seal the men's overall relay crown as the team of Maxim Tsvetkov, Evgeniy Garanichev, Anton Babikov and Anton Shipulin finished fourth.

Jean Guillaume Beatrix, Simon Fourcade and Simon Desthieux were also part of the French quartet which beat World Cup debutante Lorenz Waeger, veteran Simon Eder, Pyeongchang sprint winner Julian Eberhard and Dominik Landertinger of Austria by 33.8 seconds.

Norway's Vetle Sjastad Christiansen, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Vegard Gjermundshaug and Henrik L'Abée-Lund were third.

"I am happy to finish this week, but we are all exhausted," Martin Fourcade, who secured his sixth overall World Cup title in a row in the sprint race and will depart Pyeongchang with three medals, said.

"We already think of our flight back to Europe."