Ekaterina Avvakumova, Russian-born biathlete competing for Korea competes in the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint event in biathlon at the Asian Winter Games at Yabuli Ski Resort in Yabuli, China, Feb. 11. Reuters-Yonhap

Ekaterina Avvakumova, a Russian-born biathlete competing for Korea, won an Asian Winter Games gold medal for her adopted country in China on Tuesday.

Avvakumova finished first in the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint event in biathlon at Yabuli Ski Resort, some 200 kilometers east of the main host city Harbin, with a time of 22:45.4.

It's Korea's first Winter Asiad gold medal in biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and shooting.

Meng Fanqi of China got the silver medal in 22:47.8, with Tang Jialin of China finishing with bronze in 23:01.0.

Korea has so far won 12 gold medals at the Harbin Asiad, which will wrap up Friday.

Avvakumova, 34, obtained Korean citizenship in 2017 and represented Korea at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, where she placed 16th in the 15km individual event — the highest placement by a Korean biathlete in Winter Games. Four years later in Beijing, Avvakumova finished 73rd in the individual event.

Avvakumova had not been regarded as a gold medal contender at the Asian Winter Games, though officials had hoped she would reach the podium.

She led Tuesday's race through the first 2.4 km before Tang moved out in front and stayed there through the 5km mark. Avvakumova trailed Tang by nearly two seconds with 1 km left but made the final push for the gold.

Avvakumova's next event will be the women's 4x6km relay Thursday. (Yonhap)