Hirscher wins men slalom gold for Austria

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SCHLADMING, Austria, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Marcel Hirscher delighted his Austrian countrymen Sunday by closing out the Alpine World Championships at Schladming with a gold medal in the men's slalom.

Hirscher, 23, finished with a two-run time of 1 minute, 51.03 seconds and gave Austria its second gold medal and sixth total medal of the worlds.

Hirscher leads the World Cup overall point standings with 1,135 followed by Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal with 921. Felix Neureuther of Germany is in third.

Neureuther took second place Sunday in 1:51.45 and Austrian Mario Matt placed third. Michael Janyk of Canada finished in 14th place, but no one from the U.S. team qualified for the finals.

The Americans came away with the top spot in the medal standings at Schladming. The U.S. squad won four golds and a bronze followed by the Austrians with two golds, two silvers and two bronze. France finished in third place.

The World Cup tour resumes Feb. 20 with downhill events for the men in Germany and the women in France.