He set a new record of the Kulm hill in the first jump, but had a weaker second jump to settle for second place behind Kenneth Gangnes of Norway.

Prevc showed his sights were set firmly on the world title with the first out of the four jumps, as he landed at 243 metres to set a new record of the famous Austrian flying hill.

The 23-year old added 2.5 metres to the record set only a few jumps earlier by Japan's Noriaki Kasai, who had bettered the previous record of the hill, 237.5 metres, held by Germany's Severin Freund.

The weather deteriorated during the second round, with almost all jumpers recording shorter jumps. Prevc jumped only 213.5 metres to score a total of 418.1 points.

Despite being well shorter than Prevc in the first round, Gangnes holds a slim lead after day one, as he scored 419.4 points on jumps of 236 and 216 metres. Stefan Kraft of Austria is third (226 and 220 m, 415.6 points).

All four Slovenians were among the top ten, with the 2012 ski flying world champion Robert Kranjec finishing eighth (356.8 points), Anže Lanišek ninth (354.4) and Jurij Tepeš tenth (350.3).

The champion will be decided on Saturday, when the remaining two series are scheduled. The team event is due to be held on Sunday.