UPDATE 1-Alpine skiing-Austria finish with a bang as Hirscher wins slalom
The 29-year-old defending champion carved out a half second advantage over Frenchman Alexis Pinturault through the 77 gates in his first run and nailed his second to claim victory. It was Salzburg-born Hirscher's third world title in slalom having also bagged gold in 2013 and 2017, matching the record of Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.
He also drew level with the men's record seven world championships golds held by fellow Austrian Toni Sailer. After what had been a lean championships for the Austrians they at least finished in style, sweeping the slalom podium.
Michael Matt was second, 0.65 seconds adrift, while Marco Schwarz took the bronze, 0.76 behind. Pinturault's hopes of putting pressure on Hirscher disappeared when he made a mistake on his second run.
He made a remarkable recovery after sliding to the ground around a gate, but ended up fourth. (Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty and Christian Radnedge)
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