The 28-year-old, winner of 55 World Cup races and has won the last six overall season titles, triumphed with a combined time of 2 min 06.52sec at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre.

A time of 1:20.56 saw him rank 12th in the downhill, his less favoured of the two events, and he then clocked an unrivalled time of 45.96 in the slalom.

Hirscher’s previous best at the Olympics was a silver medal in the slalom at Sochi 2014.

"It's not real for now, but I think in a few hours it'll come closer and especially during the prize-giving ceremony," Hirscher said when asked about becoming an Olympic champion.

"A dream coming true.

"All the people expected me to win a gold medal, especially in Austria, my home country, where skiing is big.

"Everyone is saying, 'nice career, but an Olympic gold medal is still missing'. 

"This is perfect, unbelievable."

France’s Alexis Pinturault finished second in 2:06.75, 0.23 seconds behind, to add an Olympic silver medal to the giant slalom bronze he won at Sochi 2014.

"It's something really special," he said.

"Getting a silver medal is something unbelievable. 

"To be here is already something really nice.

"I'm really proud to be here and racing for my country, for France."

Pinturault's compatriot Victor Muffat-Jeandet won the bronze medal with a time of 2:07.54, leaving him 1.02 seconds off the pace.

"I think I will enjoy it tomorrow and share it with Alex," he said.

"We're always together in the room."

Alpine skiing medal action at Pyeongchang 2018 is due to resume tomorrow with the women's slalom event.