Slovenia’s Peter Prevc continued his impressive form as he claimed his fourth victory in a row ©FIS

Slovenia’s Peter Prevc continued his impressive form as he claimed his fourth victory in a row at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Ski Jumping World Cup in in Willingen, Germany.

Prevc, who recently won the Four Hills tournament, posted the longest jumps in both rounds as he leapt 148.5 metres and 145.5m to finish on a score of 264.9 points.

His efforts earned him a commanding win as second-placed Kenneth Gangnes of Norway, who jumped 139.5m and 141m, was 15.5 points adrift.

World champion Severin Freund of Germany managed 145.5m and 133m, which proved enough to clinch the final spot on the podium, edging Austrian Stefan Kraft into fourth.

The result saw Prevc extend his lead at the top of the World Cup standings as he is currently 245 points ahead of arch-rival Freund, who pipped the Slovenian to the overall crown last year by the narrowest of margin, on a score of 1,024.

Gangnes remains in contention as he occupies third with a total of 675 points.

Prevc’s victory also ensures he will be the one to beat when the Ski Flying World Championships take place in Bad Mitterndorf in Austria on January 14 and 15, while today also maintained the disappointing run of results for Freund. 

“My shape is very good at the moment, I hope it will remain like that because I can change very fast and then it's not working that well anymore,” Prevc said.

“Hopefully I can continue to jump on this level also at the Kulm.

“The hill there is new and so we will test a lot on Thursday.

“I'm a bit scared of what the many Slovenian fans in Austria will do to me, if I don't jump that well.

“But I'm looking forward to seeing many Slovenian flags.”

Peter Prevc put in another superb display to extend his overall Ski Jumping World Cup lead
Peter Prevc put in another superb display to extend his overall Ski Jumping World Cup lead ©Getty Images

Double world champion Freund was unable to give his home crowd the result they desired and he admitted he found today’s competition difficult owing to the varying weather conditions.

“Unfortunately the jumps in the final round weren't that far,” he said.

“It was a nice weekend, now I'm looking forward to a few days of rest and then to the ski flying.

“The second jump on 133m was not that cool, because here on this hill it feels like it's in the middle of the landing area.

“But it was difficult today due to the changing wind conditions."

After the Ski Flying World Championships, the Ski Jumping World Cup season will resume on the Polish hill of Zakopane on January 24.