Althaus recorded a jump of 91.5 metres to finish on 108.5 points, marking the perfect start to her World Cup campaign at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games venue.

Italy’s Elena Runggaldier took second place thanks to a leap of 89.5m, which yielded a score of 105.5 points, while third in Norway went to Anastasiya Barannikova.

The Russian was perhaps a surprise inclusion in the top three but was fully deserving of her place as she leapt 91.5m for an overall total of 104.9 points.

Olympic champion Carina Vogt of Germany could only manage ninth place having jumped 85.5m, earning her 94.2 points, although she was perhaps keeping enough in the tank for an assault on victory in the main competition tomorrow.

Today’s qualifiers will be joined by the eight athletes who have earned automatic entry into the season-opener in Lillehammer, which includes defending overall FIS World Cup champion Sara Takanashi of Japan.

The 20-year-old was in stunning form in the 2015 to 2016 campaign and is likely to battle it out with Vogt for this year’s honours.

Takanashi has won 44 of the previous 80 World Cup competitions but has often faltered in other major events, finishing fourth at both the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the 2015 World Championships in Falun in Sweden, with Vogt topping the podium at both.

This campaign sees the return of American Sandra Hendrickson, who missed the entire 2015-16 season due to injury.

Hendrickson tore her right anterior cruciate ligament on a training jump in Germany in August 2015, which ruled her out of action.

She will be hoping to challenge for the podium positions this year, while Austria’s Daniela Iraschko-Stolz, dethroned by Takanashi last season, is also likely to be in contention.