Norway's Trym Nygaard Loeken won gold on home snow as the International Ski Federation Telemark World Championships began in Rjukan ©Facebook

Norway's Trym Nygaard Loeken won gold on home snow as the International Ski Federation Telemark World Championships began in Rjukan.

Loeken won the men's classic title as he clocked 2min 17.11sec to finish in first position.

The Norwegian also won the overall and classic World Cup titles this season so has added another accolade.

Jure Ales of Slovenia won silver today in 2:18.14 with Sivert Hole of Norway taking bronze in 2:19.74.

In the women's classic, Amelie Wenger-Reymond continued her dominance of the sport by clinching gold.

The Swiss won the overall, classic and sprint World Cup titles this term and timed in today at 2:21.82.

Germany's Johanna Holzman, second in the overall World Cup standings, collected silver on 2:23.66.

Bronze went to Martina Wyss of Switzerland in 2:25.38.

Rjukan is in the Telemark region of Norway which gives the sport - a mixture of Alpine and cross-country skiing - its name.

Competition will continue tomorrow with the team parallel sprint.

The Speed Skiing World Championships begin in Vars in France on Friday (March 22).