Austria’s Marcel Hirscher has won the overall World Cup title for the third year in succession after coming fourth in Saturday’s giant slalom at Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
The Olympic slalom silver medallist Hirscher took advantage of a disastrous day for Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who pulled out in the first leg of the race and withdrew from Sunday’s season-ending slalom at the same venue to end his hopes of taking the title.
The race itself was won by Ted Ligety of the United States, who beat Hirscher to the giant slalom World Cup title in the process.
Ligety finished just three hundredths of a second ahead of France’s Alexis Pinturault.
Ligety and Hirscher finished level on points in the discipline, but the American claimed the title because he has won five races this season compared to just two for Hirscher.
The 29-year-old Ligety adds the globe to his Olympic gold medal and two world championship golds in the discipline.
Meanwhile, Svindal ruled himself out of Sunday’s race as his hopes of adding this year’s overall title to those won in 2007 and 2009 were ended.
“It was a good season but it could have been fantastic,” he said. “Since after the Olympics I was on a trend that went the wrong way.
“I had a really good opportunity to win the biggest thing a skier can win, which is the overall, but if you’re not winning races you shouldn’t win the overall either.”