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The double world champion dominated the large hill event with a huge 260 points, Slovenia's Peter Prevc scored 248.5 in second and Norway's Joachim Hauer came third ahead of three of his compatriots.
The best jump of the day however went to quadruple Olympic champion Simon Ammann who flew an astonishing 134 metres on his first descent.
A second event will be held here on Sunday.
Standings after the first Nizhny Tagil event:
1. Severin Freund (GER) 260pts (132m + 131.3m)
2. Peter Prevc (SLO) 248.5 (131m + 128.3m)
3. Joachim Hauer (NOR) 243.7 (133.5 + 120.9m)
Overall world cup standings (after four events):
1. Severin Freund (GER) 305pts
2. Peter Prevc (SLO) 264pts
3. Kenneth Gangnes (NOR) 236pts