The top two places in the men’s qualifier were filled by Italians with Sommariva edging fellow countryman Omar Visintin.

Sommariva crossed the finish line in 1min 4.28sec, followed by Visintin in 1:04.68, while Canadian Eliot Grondin was third in 1:04.85.

Austria’s Alessandro Hämmerle, who sits second in the World Cup standings, produced a solid first run to qualify in fourth place in 1:04.99.

World Cup leader Glenn de Blois finished 10th in 1:05.47 but was one of the 16 to qualify for the main competition after the first run.

A further 16 needed a second run to secure their spot, including recently-crowned world champion Lucas Eguibar.

The Spaniard registered a time of 1:07.06 in the first run but stepped things up in the second to advance in 1:04.84 – the same time as Frenchman Merlin Surget.

Lukas Pachner of Austria produced the best second run time of 1:04.70, while 34 athletes failed to qualify.

In the women’s race, world champion Charlotte Bankes of Britain moved safely through in a time of 1:08.36.

The best performance of the day came from Olympic gold medallist Moioli who clocked 1:07.54.

Five-time world champion Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States came third in 1:08.93 while World Cup leader Eva Samková of the Czech Republic was fourth in 1:09.12.

They were among eight athletes to progress after the first run with a further eight joining them in the final after qualifying in run two.

Nineteen missed out on a place in the final.

Those who qualified will now have a day off tomorrow before the women’s and men’s races are scheduled to be held on February 18.