A glance at the men's giant slalom race Friday at worlds

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The men's giant slalom race on Friday

2013 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS GIANT SLALOM MEDALISTS

Gold, Ted Ligety, United States. Silver, Marcel Hirscher, Austria. Bronze, Manfred Moelgg, Italy.

THE FAVORITES

Ligety: This is Ligety's best event, the one he won at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Ligety won three golds at the 2013 worlds in Austria, including this event.

Hirscher: He's been Ligety's rival in this discipline for years. Hirscher captured gold in the Alpine combined Sunday.

Alexis Pinturault of France: Some combination of Ligety, Hirscher and Pinturault always seems to wind up on the podium in this discipline. It went Ligety, Pinturault and then Hirscher in the World Cup GS event at Beaver Creek in December.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT

Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway: Finished third during a World Cup GS race in Switzerland on Jan. 10.

QUOTABLE

''Marcel's skiing better, for sure, than he has been. I think we haven't seen the best skiing out of Pinturault this year. I'm definitely not skiing anywhere close to my best skiing. That's exacerbated what seems to be (Hirscher's) dominance. Hopefully we can bring that back down to earth in Beaver Creek.'' Ligety on Hirscher's lead in the World Cup overall standings.

FACTS & FIGURES

Ligety has four individual world titles and can move past Bode Miller for most among U.S. skiers. Ligety has six podium finishes at worlds and can leap over Lindsey Vonn to become the American skier with the most individual medals. ... Ligety can become the first man to win the GS world title three times following his wins in 2011 and 2013. Six others have won the world title in this discipline twice. ... Hirscher has won the last three World Cup GS races. ... Austria leads the men's discipline with seven giant slalom titles. Switzerland has six. ... Pinturault looking to become the fourth GS skier from his country to win at worlds, joining Francois Bonlieu (1964), Guy Perillat (1966) and Jean-Claude Killy (1968).