Hirscher picks up fourth slalom title

SCHLADMING, Austria, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Marcel Hirscher collected his fourth slalom title of the season Wednesday at the International Skiing Federation stop in Schladming, Austria.

Hirscher, competing about 30 minutes from his home, finished his runs in 1 minute, 43.01 seconds. Italian skier Stefano Gross was second in 1:43.23 and Austrian Mario Matt was third, 0.07 seconds off Gross's time.

Croatia's Ivica Kostelic took fourth in 1:43.31, 0.01 seconds slower than Matt.

Hirscher built a 0.75-second lead over Matt with a 50.13-second first run. Gross pulled into second with a final run of 51.89 seconds as weather conditions hampered attempts to catch Hirscher.

Hirscher earlier this season won slaloms at Alta Badia, Italy; Zagreb, Croatia; and Adelboden, Switzerland. He had one FIS slalom title before this season. He also won the giant slalom at Adelboden.

Kostelic continues to lead the FIS World Cup slalom standings with 595 points while Hirscher is second with 460. Italy's Christian Deville is third with 370, 6 points ahead of Sweden's Andre Myhrer.

Kostelic and Hirscher are also 1-2 in the overall standings, with Kostelic ahead 905-825. Beat Feuz, from Switzerland, is third with 665 and American Ted Ligety, who has 578 points, is fourth.