Fak had more energy in the end than Ondrej Moravec of the Czech Republic, who finished in second place, a second behind the Slovenian winner. Bronze went to Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway (+3.7 seconds). All three missed a shot.

Fak seemed somewhat reserved at first but kept up with those in the lead. At the first shooting stop, he covered all five targets but was 12.1 seconds behind Boe. But the group stayed together.

At the third shooting stop, Fak missed the fifth target and earned himself a 19.4-second delay.

But he quickly made up for the loss and caught up on his rivals. He came out strong in the last kilometre, when only Moravec responded. But Fak beat him to cross the finish line as the winner.

"I was thinking about how to go about the last lap. I knew I can be the fastest among those who were ahead of me. There was some difference, but I believes in myself," Fak told RTV Slovenija.

This is Fak's fifth medal at the World Championships. He bagged gold in Ruhpolding, Germany, in 2012 in an individual event and silver in mixed relay.

He also won bronze medals in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2009 and in Novo Mesto, the Czech Republic, in 2013.

"I believed in him, that he will do the best he can... I told him that to me he is the best runner," chief coach Uroš Velepec told public broadcaster RTV Slovenija.