(MENAFN- Kora) The newly-crowned Olympic giant slalom champion needed to top the podium and see discipline title rival Marcel Hirscher finish outside of the top three to stand of chance of lifting the trophy - and everything came together for the American in Lenzerheide
Ligety was second fastest in Saturday's first run in Switzerland behind Felix Neureuther before being fifth in the second to finish quickest overall in a time of two minutes 15.63 seconds
Hirscher looked set for a podium finish only for Neureuther, the final skier out on the second run, to creep into the top three by 0.01secs from the Austrian
The result saw Hirscher and Ligety finish level on 560 points at the top of the giant slalom standings, with the latter claiming the title thanks to his five wins this season compared to two
Alexis Pinturault, who finished second in the race, was third in the discipline standing with 458 points € 102 behind the leaders
In the overall World Cup standings, Hirscher is on the brink of winning the title after his fourth place as rival Aksel Lund Svindal failed to finish his first run
With the Norwegian unlikely to compete in the slalom race on Sunday, the final race of the whole season, it means Hirscher, who has a 31 point lead, is expected to be crowned champion.
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