Ted Ligety won gold at his home world championships with a victory in Friday鈥檚 giant slalom at the Alpine World Ski Championships in Vail, .
This is the third straight world championship in the giant slalom for Ligety, who is also the defining Olympic champion in the event. No other racer has won three giant slalom world championships in a career.
The 32-year-old, who ranked fifth after the morning run, overcame a 0.24-second deficit behind World Cup overall leader Marcel Hirscher. The Austrian placed second; Alexis Pinturault of France placed third.
The U.S. team has a chance to claim a second gold in Saturday鈥檚 women鈥檚 slalom, when 19-year-old Vail native Mikaela Shiffrin will toe the line in her strongest event.
The world championships conclude on Sunday with the men鈥檚 slalom.