Karl Geiger won the individual title at the FIS Ski Flying World Championships ©Getty Images

Germany's Karl Geiger held on to the lead he established in round one to win the individual competition at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Ski Flying World Championships in Planica in Slovenia.

Overnight leader Geiger extended his advantage in the third round, clearing 240.5 metres to collect a round-leading score of 228.0.

And that proved vital, as Geiger held off a late charge from Norway's Halvor Egner Granerud, who earned 225.2 points in round four - 7.2 more than Geiger.

The German's final total was 877.2, narrowly ahead of Granerud's 876.7.

Geiger, second in the overall FIS Ski Jumping World Cup standings last season, is the first German to win the title since 2014.

This world title joins two Geiger won at the 2019 Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld in Austria.

Halvor Egner Granerud missed out on the gold medal by just 0.5 points ©Getty Images
Halvor Egner Granerud missed out on the gold medal by just 0.5 points ©Getty Images

Another German, Markus Eisenbichler, took bronze with a score of 859.3 after a second consistent day of jumping, placing fourth in each of the two rounds.

All three athletes on the podium are first-time medallists at the Ski Flying World Championships. 

Austria's Michael Hayböck finished a distant fourth on 845.1, ahead of Norway's Robert Johansson in fifth with a total of 841.0.

Defending champion Daniel-André Tande of Norway could only finish 13th while 2018's silver medallist, Kamil Stoch of Poland, finished in eighth overall.

Granerud, who already has three wins so far in this season's FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, will have the opportunity to go one better than his silver medal in the team competition tomorrow, where Norway are the defending champions.