Ligety, who had won gold in the Super-G, super-combined and giant slalom, was the first man to achieve such a feat since Claude Killy in 1968.

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Having secured five major titles, Killy quit skiing aged 24.

CNN: Val d'Isere: The hidden home of skiing's 'madmen'

Killy took his lead from Oreiller, and was part of a group of children who desperately tried to keep pace with Val d'Isere's "madman" while he trained on the slopes.

CNN: Val d'Isere: The hidden home of skiing's 'madmen'

"Mr. Putin told me Sochi has the best snow in the world, and I have no reason not to believe him, " former Olympic ski champion Jean-Claude Killy, chair of the International Olympic Committee coordination commission for the Sochi games, told reporters last year.

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