Severin Freund soars through the air on his way to victory today ©Getty Images

Germany’s Severin Freund won the first leg of ski jumping’s prestigious Four Hills tournament in front of a home crowd in Oberstdorf today.

The 27-year-old claimed his third Ski Jumping World Cup victory of the season as efforts of 126 metres and 137.5m saw him finish with an overall points tally of 307.2.

His win meant he became the first German to win at Oberstdorf since the 2002-2003 season.

Silver went to Austrian Michael Hayboeck with a points tally of 304.2, while Slovenian Peter Prevc was third on 299.9.

With the Four Hills events also counting to the overall World Cup standings, Prevc did enough to retain his lead and now has 624 points on top of the table.

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Peter Prevc had to settle for third but he retains the overall lead ©Getty Images

Freund, however, has narrowed the gap in second and now has 499 himself, as well as taking pole position in the race for the Four Hills title.

Freund admitted that conditions worked in his favour in front of his home crowd, but he was not complaining.

"Sometimes you need a bit of luck," he said.

"I'm pretty happy.

"I do exactly the same, whether it’s front wind or back wind.

"You just have to be confident in your system."

The Four-Hills-Tournament is due to continue on Thursday (December 31) with the qualification for the New Year's competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.