High winds saw organisers make the decision to move the event from the large hill to the normal hill and the ski jumpers were only able to manage one effort apiece on the night.

Freund proved to be the most able to deal with the alterations, as the double gold medallist at the Falun 2015 World Championships secured 139.3 points from his effort to claim victory.

"I'm very happy, I have never won here before," Freund said.

"It might have been even nice on the large hill, but it's a great success and it was a good decision to jump on this hill.

"The delays were not a big problem for me because I could return to the hotel.

"The days in Finland were very successful for me.

Austria's Stefan Kraft assumed the overall World Cup lead but will face stiff opposition from Severin Freund and Peter Prevc in the remaining events ©AFP/Getty Images



Freund was followed in second by Andres Bardal of Norway, who received 135.9 points from his jump, while Austrian's Stefan Kraft finished joint third with Simon Ammann of Switzerland as both men earned 132.5 points.

The results in Kuopio also had an impact on the overall World Cup standings with five events left of the season.

Slovenia's Peter Prevc, leader of overall standings heading into the event, was only able to manage a 17th place finish and the Slovenian has now been replaced in the yellow leader's bib by Stefan Kraft.

Kraft boasts a total of 1,368 points, while Freund and Prevc remain in striking distance in second and third with 1,343 and 1,329 points respectively.

Their battle for the World Cup title is set to continue in the Norwegian city of Trondheim on Thursday (March 12), with another night event.

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