Alpine skiing - Hirscher edges to slalom win with superb recovery

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Slalom - Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - December 22, 2017 - Marcel Hirscher of Austria reacts after winning the race. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

(Reuters) - Austrian Marcel Hirscher recovered from a mid-race wobble to edge to victory at the slalom event at Italy's Madonna di Campiglio on Friday as he eyes a seventh straight overall World Cup title.

This was Hirscher's fourth World Cup race win of the season, and the 49th of his career, leaving Swiss Luca Aerni in second, 0.04 seconds off the pace and fellow overall title contender Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway in third.

The 28-year-old Hirscher, second to Kristoffersen in the overall World Cup standings going into Friday's race, carried a 0.23 seconds advantage after the first run.

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Slalom - Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - December 22, 2017 - Marcel Hirscher of Austria (2L) celebrates on podium with former ski champion Alberto Tomba (2R), Luca Aerni of Switzerland (L) and Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Racing last in the second run he looked to have gone off course when he slipped on the icy snow but recovered with a superb move to finish just ahead of Aerni's time.

The Austrian also won the giant slalom at Alta Badia last week and is firmly on course for a record-extending seventh successive overall World Cup title despite suffering a broken ankle in a training run in August.

Despite his dominance of the World Cup, Hirscher has never won an Olympic gold medal - something he has a chance to change in Pyeongchang in February.

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Slalom - Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - December 22, 2017 - Marcel Hirscher of Austria is seen in action. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

The Pyeongchang Games run from Feb. 9-25.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Slalom - Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - December 22, 2017 - Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway is seen in action. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Slalom - Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - December 22, 2017 - Andre Myhrer of Sweden is seen in action. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Slalom - Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - December 22, 2017 - Alexander Khoroshilov of Russia is seen in action. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Slalom - Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - December 22, 2017 - Naoki Yuasa of Japan is seen in action. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo