The 28-year-old American was a shock winner of the opening super-G and then showcased his slalom skills to nail super-combined gold, suitably filling the void felt in the US camp by the absence of the injured Lindsey Vonn.

Hitting the steep slope here with bib number three, Ligety allied his superior technical ability on the new giant slalom skis with an aggressive approach, to time 1min 13.14sec down the Planai course in cold, sunny conditions.

The American has totally dominated the discipline on the World Cup circuit, winning three of four giant slaloms so far this season, and seems set to continue that form.

"It felt pretty good. I just skied as clean as possible," Ligety said. "I didn't take any crazy risks."

Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal was well set in his bid for his own third medal of these championships following downhill gold and super-G bronze.

The 2007 world GS champion, who is also the reigning Olympic bronze medallist in the event, was in second place at a distant 1.30sec.

"It's possible to ski fast, you just have to find your rhythm," said Svindal. "I don't think it's possible to beat Ted, but behind him it looks pretty open and I had a pretty good run."