Giant Slalom: Marcel Hirscher easily wins 2nd Olympic gold medal

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February 18, 2018 9:58 AM

Marcel Hirscher of Austria solidified his claim to being the world’s best skier, easily picking up his second gold medal of the games in the men’s giant slalom.

Hirscher, the six-time overall World Cup champion, crushed the field in the first run by more than six-tenths of a second, leaving his rival Alexis Pinturault of France back in second.

The American Ted Ligety, the defending champion, struggled to find an attacking rhythm and placed 20th in the first run.

“It ran a lot easier than I anticipated, but I didn’t attack as I could have or should have,” Ligety said.

“No real explanation for that. I thought it would run a little bit more challenging than it did.” Ligety wound up tied for 15th after both runs.

On the second run, Hirscher again put up a fast time to win overall by an almost insulting 1.27 seconds, while Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway pipped Pintarault for the silver by four hundredths of a second.

Hirscher had disappointed in 2014, winning just one silver. But in 2018, having already won the combined, he will be a heavy favorite to pick up a third gold medal in the slalom Thursday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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