Austria's Marcel Hirscher clinched his 50th World Cup win on Thursday with victory in the slalom at Zagreb, moving level with Italian legend Alberto Tomba in third place on the all-time list.

Hirscher won in 1min 50.60sec with compatriot Michael Matt just 0.05sec behind while Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, 0.11sec behind, was third.

Hirscher, who leads Kristoffersen by 94 points in the World Cup standings, is bidding to retain the overall title he has held since 2012.

The 28-year-old's next target will be to overhaul fellow Austrian Hermann Maier who won 54 World Cup races with the record 86 victories of Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark, set in the 1980s and 1990s, not out of reach for a man with possibly three to four years left in his career.

"To equal Tomba means so much to me. He's a living legend of world skiing," said Hirscher, who admitted that the Zagreb course, where he has now won four times, suited his ability.

"It's one of the longest of the season. Physically, I am above average but even so it was complicated."

Despite moving level with Tomba, the Austrian knows that he needs an elusive first Olympic title to seal his legacy in the sport before retiring.

He will get what will probably be his last opportunity to join the likes of compatriots Maier and Franz Klammer as an Olympic champion in Pyeongchang next month.

Source:AFP