Alpine skiing-Hirscher wins opening slalom leg (Reuters)
By Mark Lamport-Stokes BEAVER CREEK, Colorado, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Reigning champion Marcel Hirscher put himself in pole position to claim his third gold medal of the alpine ski world championships, posting the fastest time in the opening leg of the men’s slalom on Sunday. “I didn’t push 100 percent,” said the 30-year-old Khoroshilov. “It’s a difficult course and it’s also really long, so I am really happy with my run, but I will have to try to push hard this afternoon.” Asked to assess Hirscher’s opening leg, Khoroshilov replied with a smile: “It’s nothing special because Marcel Hirscher is always in front of the others, so it’s not surprising.” Hirscher has already won gold in the super combined and team events, along with a silver in the giant slalom on Friday, and will be aiming to leave Beaver Creek with the seventh world championship medal of his career. The Austrian is also bidding to become the first man to claim successive slalom world titles since Swede Ingemar Stenmark won three in a row — in 1978, 1980 and 1982.