Neuner built a commanding lead by shooting cleanly at the second prone position to pull away from Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia, and was barely threatened the rest of the way despite missing one target at each of the two standing shootings.
She entered the stadium alone, raising her fist to salute the flag-waving German fans as she sprinted down the last straight to finish in 30 minutes, 16 seconds.
Neuner and Kuzmina switched spots on the podium after the Slovakian won Saturday's 7.5K sprint. The results from that race had a bearing on the pursuit, which features a staggered start with the sprint winner going first.
Neuner started just two seconds behind Kuzmina and the duo skied together until the second shooting, where Kuzmina missed her fourth target and was forced to go around the 150-meter penalty loop. That allowed Neuner to take a 23-second lead, which she never looked likely to give up.
Kuzmina got within 6.2 seconds after hitting all five targets at the final shooting but couldn't match Neuner's pace toward the finish and ended 12.3 seconds behind. Marie Laure Brunet of France took the bronze medal, 28.3 seconds back.
Neuner did show slightly shaky nerves by missing her 20th and final target, but had enough power left in her legs to extend her lead over the last two kilometers.
World Cup leader and pursuit world champion Helena Jonsson had another disappointing race, missing two targets in the first standing shooting to slip from 12th to 14th.
