Heading to Russia Soukalova could only boast one World Cup victory in her entire career, this coming backing round six.
But the 23-year-old now has two World Cup victories to her name after crossing the finish line in Russia in first place in a time of 21:25.6 minutes thanks to some clean shooting – all in minus 15 degrees Celsius.
Completing the podium were two Germans, Andrea Henkel finishing second and Miriam Gossner third, 17.2 seconds and 23.6 seconds further back respectively.
Soukalova said: "I did not expect it; this is wonderful. I do not sleep very well; my body is on Czech Republic time.
"In the morning I went for a short walk to breakfast and told one of my teammates that it was so cold that I did not want to race. She said, 'you are going to win,' and I told her she was crazy!
"My shooting was not so good after Christmas. I felt much stronger after relay in Sochi and had good training this week, so I had a feeling that would be more successful here."
