The 24-year-old, also a world champion in the 50m rifle three positions team event, scored 249.3, which saw him beat France’s Brian Baudouin by 1.2 points and defend his title.

Another Russian, Evgeny Panchenko, took bronze on 226.5.

“I was not at all sure if I could win the gold medal, even [though] I have done it before,” Maslennikov said.

“I’m happy and can see my skills are [the] same as earlier.”

Maslennikov won gold after finishing first in qualifying.

Finals went ahead in several Olympic disciplines today including the women’s 10m air rifle and both the men’s and women’s 10m air pistol events.

In the women’s 10m air rifle, Romania’s Laura-Georgeta Coman won her first European gold after she beat Switzerland’s Nina Christen in a shoot off.

The pair finished the initial competition on 249.1 but in the second round of the tie-breaker, Coman triumphed by scoring 10.4 to Christen’s 10.3.

Austria’s Franziska Peer finished third on 228.3.

Meanwhile, in the first of two air pistol finals, Poland’s Klaudia Bres took the women’s title with a score of 243.2.

The 24-year-old beat Greece’s Anna Korakaki and Hungary’s Veronika Major in the race for gold, as they scored 242.9 and 219.5, respectively.

Ukraine's Pavlo Korostylov won the men’s air pistol final ahead of Serbia’s Damir Mikec and Italy’s Giuseppe Giordiano.

The reigning 25m world champion, Korostylov scored 241.3 to win his third European title and his first in the 10m event, while Mikec scored 239.9 and Giordano 219.4.

Two team events also came to an end, as Ukraine's Olena Kostevych and Oleh Omelchuk won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team final, while Russia's Anastasiia Galashina and individual men's champion Maslennikov triumphed in the mixed team air rifle.

The Championships will come to an end after one further day of action tomorrow.