Zurbriggen Wins His Second Gold Medal in Record-Setting Day in World Ski Event

Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland won the men’s giant slalom Wednesday for his second gold medal at the World Alpine Ski Championships and became the most successful male skier in championship history.

It was a record-setting day for Zurbriggen, giving him plenty to celebrate on his 24th birthday as he won by a two-run total of .07 seconds over Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg. His combined time for the two runs was two minutes, 32.38 seconds.

Girardelli was second in 2:32.45, adding his second silver medal to the one in the super-G and the gold in combined. Alberto Tomba gave Italy its first men’s medal since 1978 by clinching the bronze in 2:33.13.

With four gold medals in world championships, two here and two in Bormio, Italy, in 1985, Zurbriggen swept past Swedish veteran Ingemar Stenmark’s previous men’s record of three golds.

Zurbriggen also became the first person to win four medals at one world championship. He won silver medals in the combined and downhill in this meet.

He has a total of seven medals in two world championships. In Bormio, he won golds in the downhill and the combined and the silver in the giant slalom. His total of seven is three more than Stenmark’s overall mark.

And he also helped establish another record Wednesday--most titles for a team in one championship. The Swiss have won six of the first seven races to top Austria’s five golds in Chamonix, France, in 1962.