JEONGSEON, South Korea (AP) – Marcel Hirscher won the men’s combined on Tuesday, finally getting his Olympic gold medal.
The 28-year-old Austrian, one of skiing’s greatest racers, used his silky skills in the slalom leg of the event to rise from 12th place after the opening run of the downhill. Hirscher, a six-time overall World Cup champion, skied through a fierce cross wind to post the fastest time down the slalom slope.
His combined two-run time was 0.23 seconds faster than silver medalist Alexis Pinturault of France. Another Frenchman, Victor Muffat-Jeandet, took bronze, 1.02 behind Hirscher, after being 29th fastest in the opening downhill leg.
Hirscher crossed the finish line and briefly raised both his arms. He then skied directly out of the finish area with a business-like expression on his face to await Pinturault’s start two minutes later.
The fastest downhill racer in the early run, Thomas Dressen of Germany, dropped to ninth place, trailing Hirscher by 2.44 seconds. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway did not even bother to race the slalom despite placing second in downhill.