VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian great Marcel Hirscher, who won a record eighth consecutive overall World Cup title this year, is expected to announce his retirement from the sport next week, Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported on Friday.
Austrian media have been invited to an event with Hirscher in Salzburg on Wednesday. Kronen Zeitung, a sponsor of the Austrian ski team, said Hirscher has decided to announce his retirement then.
"There will be no looking ahead to his future career. Because he will end it that evening," the paper said, without identifying a source for its information.
Hirscher, 30, a household name in ski-mad Austria, has dominated slalom and giant slalom for years but has also made no secret of the strain he has felt from travelling on the world circuit and the pressure from younger skiers such as France's Clement Noel, a 22-year-old slalom specialist.
The overall World Cup title is considered the most prestigious in skiing because it covers all disciplines over a whole season.
Hirscher also equalled the record of 20 overall and discipline World Cup titles set by American Lindsey Vonn who retired this year.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy, editing by Pritha Sarkar)