The 26-year-old German's combined time of 1 min 41.41sec saw her finish ahead of Canada's Alex Gough by 0.349 seconds and compatriot Dajana Eitberger by 0.460, and secure her 28th World Cup success in all.

Geisenberger's win moves her onto 570 points at the top of the World Cup rankings, 180 points clear of compatriot Tatjana Hüfner and a further 19 points clear of Eitberger, who took bronze in last winter's European Championships.

"To start the New Year with a victory in front of an audience like this is brilliant," Geisenberger told the FIL.

"I had a grin on my face going down the track, a good sign.

"I'm just having fun."

Natalie Geisenberger registered a combined time of 1 min 41.41sec to claim her fifth victory in the post-Olympic season ©Getty Images



Gough, the 2011 and 2013 World Championship bronze medallist, is the only person to have beaten Geisenberger in the World Cup this season, doing so at the FIL Sprint World Cup in her home city of Calgary.

"What a great start to the new year," she told the FIL.

"If everything comes together, I could even beat Natalie Geisenberger in a two-run World Cup race.

"That day is bound to come."

The next World Cup race is due to be held in Oberhof, Germany in the Thuringian Forest on January 17 and 18.

There was further success for Germany in the men's doubles as Olympic champions Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt beat teammates Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken, with third place going to Austria's Peter Penz and Georg Fischler. 

Eggert and Benecken lead the overall World Cup rankings with 570 points, followed by Wendl and Arlt with 500 and Latvian brothers Andris and Juris Šics on 344. 

The Königssee artificial track is also scheduled to host the 2016 FIL World Championships. 

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