Ludwig was looking to begin the World Cup season with consecutive victories, after winning the Beijing 2022 test event earlier this month at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.

His hopes went dented when a first-run time of 52.761sec proved only enough for 20th place, with Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods leading the way on 52.116.

Ludwig responded impressively in the second run, where he became the only athlete to dip under the 52-second mark in the competition.

The second-run time of 51.865 elevated Ludwig to top spot in the overall standings.

A German one-two was completed by Felix Loch, after he finished with a combined time of 1min 44.784sec on the Sliding Center Sanki track where he earned his second men’s Olympic title at Sochi 2014.

The podium was close to a repeat of the opening FIL World Cup in Beijing, where Max Langenhan followed Ludwig and Loch in a German clean sweep.

Russia’s Roman Repilov prevented the repeat by clinching third place in 1:44.834, with Langenhan fourth in 1:45.020.

Having led at the halfway mark, Aparjods dropped to fifth place after the second run.

Ludwig tops the overall World Cup standings after securing the maximum 200 points from the opening two races.

Defending World Cup champion Loch is second on 170, with Langenhan and Repilov following on 130 and 112 respectively.

The team relay event will be held later today.

More follows.