Austrian Marcel Hirscher was Saturday guaranteed a record fourth consecutive World Cup overall title after Norwegian rival Kjetil Jansrud opted out of racing Sunday's slalom.
Hirscher stands 60 points ahead of Jansrud in the overall standings, on 1,348 points to the Norwegian's 1,288, a difference the latter, a speed expert who won crystal globes in both the downhill and super-G, considered too many to claw back in the slalom, one of the Austrian's specialities.
"The decision was taken after the giant slalom at the start of the afternoon," Norwegian team coordinator Havard Tjorhom told AFP.
The battle for the women's overall title will be decided on the final day of the season-ending World Cup finals on Sunday in a thrilling climax to the ski calendar.
The women's action on Saturday saw Slovenian all-rounder Tina Maze leapfrog Austrian Anna Fenninger and take an 18-point lead into Sunday's giant slalom after a slalom won by outstanding American racer Mikaela Shiffrin.
It was the third consecutive World Cup slalom title for the American, who, at just 20 years of age, is also reigning Olympic and double world champion.
Her victory crowned a remarkable week for the US women's team, Lindsey Vonn having earlier secured the downhill and super-G crystal globes in her comeback season from a serious knee injury.
"It's wonderful to get three crystal globes," said Shiffrin. "I've had a lot of success so far in my career so far and I'm grateful for every moment and all the support that I've gotten so far, it's been quite amazing."
Shiffrin trails Vonn by 42 points in the overall standings and can leapfrog her older teammate into third in the giant slalom.
"I'm going for the win tomorrow," she said. "I have to put more risk into my skiing.
"I'll see if I can put on a good show and leave myself satisfied with my skiing."
- Hirscher's nerves -
In the men's giant slalom, Hirscher's bid to wrap up the overall was stymied by Jansrud, who produced a startling second fastest second leg to finish 11th to the Austrian's fourth position.
Hirscher, who has already won the World Cup giant slalom title with five individual victories, was the first to praise his Norwegian rival.
"Hats off to Kjetil for his great giant slalom performance," Hirscher said, admitting to a terrible bout of nerves before and during the race.
"I got so nervous, my knees were shaking," he said. "It was a totally crazy moment, thinking what if I make a big mistake like skiing out and then leaving myself to score 10 points in the slalom."
But that concern was later dispersed with Jansrud not entering the slalom.
"#THX to one of the most awesome sportsmen I've ever met! @Kjansrud competition was a pleasure and pure fairplay:)," Hirscher tweeted.
The Austrian's latest title sees him better Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark, American Phil Mahre and Italian Gustav Thoni, who all won the World Cup overall standings on three consecutive times.
Thoni won it four times overall, as did Hirscher's compatriot Hermann Maier and Switzerland's Pirmin Zurbriggen, and Luxembourg's Marc Girardelli a record five times between 1985-93, but they were not consecutive wins.
The women's overall title will be decided in Sunday's giant slalom, in their case by two skiers both capable of winning the race.
Maze went into the slalom 32pts behind Fenninger, but the Slovenian finished fourth to the Austrian's 23rd which saw her leapfrog into pole position with an 18-point advantage.
"It's going to be tough and tight," Shiffrin said of the Maze-Fenninger battle. "They're both excellent skiers and you can't really put one atop the other."
Source: AFP