Hirscher wins skiing World Cup Golden Globe title

Marcel Hirscher of Austria won the overall World Cup title for a second straight year on Thursday when chief rival Aksel Lund Svindal withdrew from the slalom race. The Norwegian's decision followed the cancellations, due to bad weather, of a downhill race on Wednesday and a super-G race on Thursday. He had hoped to close in on Hirscher's lead of 149 points in the two specialities he excells in before tackling the slalom which is more favourable to the Austrian. "I see no point in competing in the slalom now," Svindal said. "It might have been a consideration had the two last races not been cancelled. But that has not been the case."