Olympic ski champ Hirscher no longer must hear The Question
Hirscher
Olympic ski champ Hirscher  no longer must hear The Question
JEONGSEON  South Korea (AP) â Eventually  The Question began to bother  Marcel Hirscher .
It wasn't so much the actual content  which was always some variation of: "Do you need an Olympic gold medal to validate your otherwise-perfect skiing career?"  He  was certain  he  knew the answer: "No." It was more the incessant echo of it  over and over.
How often did  Hirscher  hear The Question? "Ev-e-ry day "  he  said. This was offered with a smile Tuesday  because that line of inquiry will never again arise. As of the Alpine combined event at  the Pyeongchang Games  Hirscher  is  at long last  an Olympic champion.
"I'm super happy  because now this stupid question has gone away "  Hirscher  said  before adding with gusto  "Now The Question is Zzzzzzztt. Deleted."
 Hirscher  finished in 2 minutes  6.52 seconds  which made him 0.23 seconds faster than silver medalist Alexis Pinturault of France. Another Frenchman  Victor Muffat-Jeandet  was third  more than a full second behind  Hirscher .
Fitting  then  that a race considered the greatest test of versatility in a sport of increasing specialization was how  Hirscher  finally got  his  gold.
As recently as two weeks ago   he  said   he  wasn't even sure whether it was worth entering the combined  in part because it would steal training time away from  his  better events and also because  he  hadn't been on downhill skis in a year.
So  Hirscher  went into the downhill merely hoping to be within 3 seconds of the lead going into the slalom;  he  wound up less than 1Â½ seconds behind  the beneficiary of catching a lull in swirling winds. The same gusts that had led to the postponement of the first two races on the Alpine schedule. Others found themselves dealing with headwinds or blasts of air that hit them from the side.
" He  got lucky this morning with the wind " Rearick said. "But  his  second run  in the slalom  I mean   he  had the adversity there. The wind was blowing hard. You couldn't see the snow. In slalom  when you can't see your feet  it's really tough."
But  Hirscher  can handle that sort of thing better than anyone. Temperatures around zero and winds approaching 50 mph (75 kph) left the snow hard and dry  more like what's found in Colorado than Austria. But because  he  packs a lot of strength into  his  5-foot-8 (1.73-meter) frame   he  can change direction quickly to recover from mistakes.
Two-time Olympic champion Ted Ligety of the U.S.  fifth Tuesday  lauded another  Hirscher  trait.
" His  mental ability is second to none in this sport. You often see so many guys who are fast in training and can't figure it out in a race.  He 's the exact opposite " Ligety said. "You can train with  him  and beat  him  and you're all super-confident. Then the next day   he  goes and wins a race by a lot."
 Hirscher  has dominated the week-in  week-out World Cup circuit  accumulating 55 race wins  second among men only to Ingemar Stenmark's 86.  He  has nine world championship medals. This is  his  third Olympics  but the only previous medal was a slalom silver in 2014.
If  he  never did add gold?
And while  Hirscher himself  has insisted all along  he  did not need to burnish  his  legacy   he  sure did look pleased when  he  leapt atop the podium  then pumped both arms overhead  during a flower ceremony.
[TGT] no longer must hear The Question
JEONGSEON  South Korea (AP) â Eventually  The Question began to bother   [TGT]  .
It wasn't so much the actual content  which was always some variation of: "Do you need an Olympic gold medal to validate your otherwise-perfect skiing career?"  He  was certain  he  knew the answer: "No." It was more the incessant echo of it  over and over.
How often did   [TGT] hear The Question? "Ev-e-ry day "  he  said. This was offered with a smile Tuesday  because that line of inquiry will never again arise. As of the Alpine combined event at   [TGT] is  at long last  an Olympic champion.
"I'm super happy  because now this stupid question has gone away "   [TGT] said  before adding with gusto  "Now The Question is Zzzzzzztt. Deleted."
 Hirscher  finished in 2 minutes  6.52 seconds  which made him 0.23 seconds faster than silver medalist Alexis Pinturault of France. Another Frenchman  Victor Muffat-Jeandet  was third  more than a full second behind  Hirscher .
Fitting  then  that a race considered the greatest test of versatility in a sport of increasing specialization was how   [TGT] finally got   [TGT]   gold.
As recently as two weeks ago    [TGT]   said    [TGT]   wasn't even sure whether it was worth entering the combined  in part because it would steal training time away from   [TGT]   better events and also because   [TGT]   hadn't been on downhill skis in a year.
So   [TGT] went into the downhill merely hoping to be within 3 seconds of the lead going into the slalom;   [TGT]   wound up less than 1Â½ seconds behind  the beneficiary of catching a lull in swirling winds. The same gusts that had led to the postponement of the first two races on the Alpine schedule. Others found themselves dealing with headwinds or blasts of air that hit them from the side.
" He  got lucky this morning with the wind " Rearick said. "But  his  second run  in the slalom  I mean   he  had the adversity there. The wind was blowing hard. You couldn't see the snow. In slalom  when you can't see your feet  it's really tough."
But   [TGT] can handle that sort of thing better than anyone. Temperatures around zero and winds approaching 50 mph (75 kph) left the snow hard and dry  more like what's found in Colorado than Austria. But because  he  packs a lot of strength into  his  5-foot-8 (1.73-meter) frame   he  can change direction quickly to recover from mistakes.
Two-time Olympic champion Ted Ligety of the U.S.  fifth Tuesday  lauded another  Hirscher  trait.
" His  mental ability is second to none in this sport. You often see so many guys who are fast in training and can't figure it out in a race.  He 's the exact opposite " Ligety said. "You can train with  him  and beat  him  and you're all super-confident. Then the next day   he  goes and wins a race by a lot. [TGT] 
has dominated the week-in  week-out World Cup circuit  accumulating 55 race wins  second among men only to Ingemar Stenmark's 86.   [TGT]   has nine world championship medals. This is   [TGT]   third Olympics  but the only previous medal was a slalom silver in 2014.
If  he  never did add gold?
And while   [TGT] has insisted all along   [TGT]   did not need to burnish   [TGT]   legacy    [TGT]   sure did look pleased when   [TGT]   leapt atop the podium  then pumped both arms overhead  during a flower ceremony.