Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher is guaranteed a record fourth consecutive World Cup overall title after Norwegian rival Kjetil Jansrud opted out of racing Sunday's slalom.
Hirscher stands 60 points ahead of Jansrud in the overall standings, on 1,348 points to the Norwegian's 1,288.
Speed expert Jansrud, who won crystal globes in both the downhill and super-G, considered the points too many to claw back in the slalom, one of the Austrian's specialities.
"The decision was taken after the giant slalom at the start of the afternoon," Norwegian team coordinator Havard Tjorhom told AFP.
Hirscher was quick to praise Jansrud.
"#THX to one of the most awesome sportsmen I've ever met! @Kjansrud competition was a pleasure and pure fairplay:)," he tweeted.
The Austrian ski team added in their own tweet: "It's settled, @MarcelHirscher wins the World Cup for the fourth time! Simply brilliant..."
Hirscher's latest title betters the tally of Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark, American Phil Mahre and Italian Gustav Thoni, who all won the World Cup overall standings three consecutive times.
Thoni won it four times overall, as did Hirscher's compatriot Hermann Maier, and Luxembourg's Marc Girardelli a record five times, but they were not consecutive wins.
Hirscher has also claimed this season's giant slalom globe, finishing Saturday's last race in the discipline in fourth place behind Norwegian winner Henrik Kristoffersen.
Kristoffersen timed an aggregate of 2min 17.36sec over the two legs, 0.79sec ahead of Germany's Fritz Dopfer, with France's Thomas Fanara rounding out the podium in third at 0.97sec.
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