Marcel Hirscher wins World Cup slalom on Sunday in Switzerland for weekend double
AP | AP
ADELBODEN, Switzerland — Marcel Hirscher completed a perfect World Cup weekend by winning a slalom Sunday to extend his lead in the overall and discipline standings.
Retaining his first-run lead, just as he did in Saturday’s giant slalom, Hirscher was 0.13 seconds faster than his Austria teammate Michael Matt on a tricky racing surface on a warm day.
“This was a really, really hard race,” said Hirscher, who was losing time through the series of gates to the finish.
Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway trailed Hirscher by 0.16 to complete the same podium places as a slalom Thursday at Zagreb, Croatia.
Hirscher’s third win in four days was also a fourth straight in traditional slalom this season and 52nd of a stellar career.
Kristoffersen, who won the Adelboden slalom the past two years, now has nine podium finishes without a win in a season increasingly dominated by his big rival. The Norwegian is runner-up to Hirscher in the three season-long standings that they compete in.
Waiting in the finish area, Matt and Kristoffersen shared expressions of weary acceptance that Hirscher had hung on for victory yet again before applauding him.
Hirscher spread his arms out wide to soak up applause from a vibrant Swiss crowd at a storied course where the Austrian star has now won seven times in his World Cup reign.
Still, the 28-year-old Hirscher lacks an Olympic title heading to the Pyeonchang Games in South Korea next month when he should start favorite in slalom and giant slalom.
At the 2014 Sochi Olympic slalom, Hirscher took silver and Kristoffersen bronze behind Mario Matt, the now-retired elder brother of Michael.
Swiss fans have gone a full decade since seeing a home winner at Adelboden. Touted prospect Loic Meillard was the best Swiss racer Sunday, finishing 1.56 back in eighth.
The World Cup circuit moves on nearby Wengen for a three-race meeting including the historic Lauberhorn downhill on Saturday.