The Finn was only ninth after the ski jumping phase at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic venue, but moved through the field superbly during the 10 kilometre cross-country ski.

He eventually won by 21.6sec in front of Austria's silver medallist Mika Vermeulen, as Germany's Martin Hahn bagged bronze.

France's Laurent Muhlethaler was the top ski jumper on the 100 metre hill with an effort of 95.5m, but he didn't fare well in the skiing and finished 17th.

Mäkiaho's jump of 90.5m left him 35sec adrift at the start-line of the cross-country, with Vermeulen's silver medal perhaps even more remarkable as he started 1min 28sec behind Muhlethaler.

That was after his ski jump had left him languishing in 29th position.

The gold was Mäkiaho's first medal after five visits to the Junior World Championships.

"Being junior world champion simply feels fantastic," said the Finn. 

"I’ve been dreaming about this for so long. 

"My jump was good and I expected the cross-country skiing to be a lot harder than it really was. 

"That’s why it just feels great."

Elsewhere, under-23 cross-country sprint races also took place in Park City.

Norway’s Fredrik Riseth won gold in the men's competition, with Sweden's Anna Dyvik victorious among the women on a good day for Scandinavia. 

Riseth won all three of his heats before edging Russia's Alexander Bolshunov in the final, as Norway's Joachim Aurland took bronze.

Dyvik qualified behind team-mate Maja Dahlqvist in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, but won when it mattered as her compatriot settled for bronze.

Thea Kroka Murud of Norway won silver. 

Cross-country action continues tomorrow with the women's junior 5km freestyle and the men's junior 10km freestyle.

The individual ski jumping competitions for men and women will also take place.