Marcel Hirscher maintained his dominance in Alta Badia by claiming victory in a combined parallel giant slalom event on Monday, simultaneously tying with Austrian legend Annemarie Moser-Proell for the third spot on the all-time World Cup wins list. Hirscher edged out the relatively unknown Thibaut Favrot of France in a thrilling finish by a mere 0.14 seconds.
This marked Hirscher’s second win in as many days after his triumph in the traditional giant slalom race on Sunday. With eight previous victories on the Gran Risa course, this latest win became Hirscher’s 62nd World Cup triumph, placing him on par with Moser-Proell and only behind the record-holding Ingemar Stenmark with 86 wins and Lindsey Vonn with 82 wins.
Speaking on this achievement, Hirscher remarked, “In a skiing nation like Austria, that is something very special. Unfortunately, I never watched (Moser-Proell) race, but it’s always nice to talk to Annemarie. I like how much appreciation she shows for current ski racing.” With this parallel giant slalom victory, Hirscher has now conquered all types of technical races, including traditional slaloms, giant slaloms, city event parallel slaloms, and parallel giant slaloms.
For Favrot, this podium finish was only his 12th World Cup race appearance, with his previous best results being 17th in a giant slalom in Germany last season and 18th in the race just the day before. In the small final, Alexis Pinturault of France claimed third place by defeating defending champion Matts Olsson of Sweden by 0.18 seconds.
Pinturault also finished third in the competition on Sunday. Competing in a unique format that involved six runs to advance through knockout rounds, the skiers were shuttled back to the starting gate in off-road vehicles after each leg for pit stops with their ski technicians.
