Naeslund, who won gold at the 2017 and 2021 Freestyle Ski World Championships, qualified for the final as the quickest competitor in 1min 14.67sec in France.

The 25-year-old narrowly beat Frenchwoman Marielle Berger Sabbatel by 0.25sec as she clocked in at 1:14.92.

Canadian Brittany Phelan then took third place with a time of 1:15.49.

The 16 fastest athletes, out of 30, progressed to the next round.

Snow had been falling heavily but the conditions were adequate for the women's event to take place.

However, the weather got worse throughout the event and caused the men's event to be delayed.

The organisers tried to clear the course but strong winds and bad visibility also combined to make the race too dangerous.

"We did everything we could, the volunteers and the Organising Committee did an amazing job and gave their best to save the race, but the weather conditions simply did not allow for a safe race to be held today and the forecast for the entire day is not promising at all," Klaus Waldner, FIS ski cross race director said.

"I want to thank everybody who joined forces today to try to save this race, but it is impossible with all the heavy snowfall and the challenging weather conditions."

The men's event has been postponed until Sunday (December 12).