Kristoffersen takes men's slalom World Cup title

[March 07, 2016]  (Reuters) - Austrian Marcel Hirscher was the race winner but young Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen took his first men's Alpine skiing slalom World Cup title after finishing second in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on Sunday.

The victory was the second in two days for overall World Cup leader Hirscher, who took the giant slalom title with a race to spare on Saturday, and his 10th Crystal Globe.

The Austrian is also set to secure a fifth successive overall crown because closest challenger and technical specialist Kristoffersen, 21, can only catch him if he enters the speed events for the first time.

Hirscher, 27, will be the first male skier to win five overall championships in a row, although Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell managed it in the women's World Cup in the 1970s.

Kristoffersen took the slalom title from Hirscher, winner for the past three seasons, however and leads the standings by 111 points with only 100 remaining to be won.

"This is maybe the first time in a really long time I had to work really hard with myself and I felt the pressure a little bit," said the Norwegian, his country's first slalom World Cup title winner since Kjetil Andre Aamodt in 2000.

(Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)

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