The 30-year-old began the laser-run with a 21sec deficit to Japan’s Natsumi Tomonaga, but she took the lead on the third 800 metres lap and never looked back in the opening event of the 2017 season.

Schoeneborn totaled 1,346 points at the Fairplex events complex in Pomona, 11 more than Great Britain’s Kate French who narrowly beat Russia’s Ekaterina Khuraskina in a battle for silver after both caught Tomonaga at the same stage.

Victory goes some way towards shaking off her setback from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where her medal quest ended with an unfortunate riding experience.

"It was difficult, but I knew I could still make up the time on the laser-run and I didn't have to go all out, and that was nice," Schoeneborn, the Beijing 2008 Olympic champion and 2016 World Cup Final winner, said.

"It's always nice to be able to chase and catch someone instead of leading from the front - mentally it's easier.

"I had a good couple of rounds of shooting and I caught Tomonaga.

"After that, it was up to me."

Russia’s Gulnaz Gubaydullina had earlier set the pace in swimming with a time of 2 min 08.84sec at the Claremont Club.

Khuraskina came out on top in the fencing ranking round with 28 wins and seven defeats, one victory ahead of Schoeneborn, and defeated Tomonaga in the final bout of the bonus round.

World champion Sarolta Kovács of Hungary also made progress in the bonus round, but her challenge ended in the riding arena when her horse Dress Rehearsal fell during the warm-up and lost one of its shoes, leading to the rider's elimination.

Four athletes, Poland’s Anna Maliszewska, Russia’s Anna Buriak, Mexico’s Mayan Oliver and South Korea’s Yang Soo Jin, managed a perfect score of 300, while Schoeneborn and French lost ground with 11 and 30 penalty points respectively.

However, both would go on to show their class in the laser-run to ensure they occupied the top two positions.  

French begun the laser-run 55sec off the lead in eighth place but was still able to secure her first World Cup silver medal ahead of Khuraskina, who claimed her first World Cup podium finish since 2013.

"I can't quite believe it, it was brilliant," the Briton said.

"I just tried to focus on picking people off and I didn't realise until the last lap that it was going to be such an exciting race for silver and bronze.

"I am really pleased with my run.

"I was just praying for the finish line to come.

"It's my highest place at a World Cup so I'm very pleased."

Gubaydullina came fifth and was followed in the standings by Turkey’s Ilke Ozyuksel and fellow Russian Alise Fakhrutdinova, the sixth and seventh-place finishers respectively.

Action in Los Angeles, a candidate city for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, is due to conclude tomorrow with the mixed relay.