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WENGEN, Switzerland, Jan 17, 2014 (AFP) - American Ted Ligety said he had "rounded the corner" with his World Cup super-combined victory on Friday, setting him on course for his three-medal target at the Sochi Olympics.
A strong start to the season had tailed off with a raft of unfinished races due to what Ligety dubbed "horrible, horrible luck".
But the 29-year-old, a four-time World Cup giant slalom champion who took last year's World Ski Championships by storm with a three-gold showing, never doubted he was skiing well, and importantly, fast.
"Winning the super-combined here is definitely a nice little confidence boost and step in right direction for getting ready for Sochi," he said.
"I've never put together the runs I needed to win a World Cup in combined so it's nice to finally get that and do it in a place like Wengen ... it's definitely the most valuable World Cup super-combined."
Ligety, the 2006 Olympic and 2013 world gold medallist in the discipline, clocked a combined total of 2min 44.74sec over a slalom and downhill, finishing 0.22sec ahead of France's Alexis Pinturault, with Croatia's Natko Zrncic-Dim in third (+1.08sec).
"I've had some horrible, horrible luck this year," he said. "It's been a tough January, I haven't finished any of the slaloms either so it's nice to round the corner and get a good race under my belt.
"To know I can actually win on the World Cup in another event besides giant slalom is definitely a good feeling."
Turning to next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Ligety was in no doubt that he could challenge in the three disciplines he won gold in during last year's worlds in Schladming.
"The main goal is definitely the giant slalom - that's my best event and that's the event I feel I have the best chance of winning in.
"But also I know I have good chances of competing well in the combined and super-G as well. Those are my focuses."
Second-placed Pinturault, who had been leading after the slalom, said it was a tough discipline that needed more exposure.
"They (FIS) either focus more on this discipline or decide to stop it, because organising two or three events a season encourages the better combined skiers to do it and the lesser ones not to do it," he said.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal regained the overall lead of the World Cup standings, his 45 points for finishing fifth seeing him jump to 697 points to leapfrog Austrian Marcel Hirscher (675).
Ligety consolidated his third place (433 pts), 27 ahead of Pinturault.
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