( CNN ) -- Ted Ligety claimed his second gold of the world skiing championships Monday , lifting the U.S. to the top of the medals table in Austria . The 28-year-old from Salt Lake City produced a masterful performance over the two-legged super combined event for an aggregate time of two minutes 56.96 seconds . It left him 1.15 seconds faster than Croatian veteran Ivica Kostelic , with Romed Baumann , giving the hosts some rare cheer by taking the final podium spot . Ligety trailed Baumann by 0.72 seconds after the earlier downhill leg , but showed his all-round skills on the floodlit Planai slope at Schladming in the slalom . He edged inside the time set by Kostelic , then watched as a succession of challengers , including two-time defending champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway , ski out in trying to match his time . Ligety was already celebrating when Baumann gave Austria just its second bronze of the championships . `` I surely took all the risks this evening after my great downhill run , I knew I had chance for another podium finish today , '' Ligety told the official championship website . `` These worlds have been pretty exciting for me so far . `` Now I 'm looking forward for another great race in the coming giant slalom . '' Ligety has stepped into the breach after the super-G crash which left fellow American Lindsey Vonn with season-ending injuries . Vonn was expected to lead the U.S. medal charge in Austria , but Ligety took the men 's super-G title to compensate for her early exit -- his first ever major victory in that discipline . Svindal , the downhill winner , saw his chances go when he straddled a gate in the mid-section of a treacherous course , while Kostelic was disappointed he could not capitalize on a storming earlier run in the downhill . `` I did n't ski well at all this evening so I am very happy by that silver medal , '' he said . `` It 's a lucky medal . I think I did n't deserve be on the podium after such as bad slalom run following that great downhill leg earlier today. `` Ligety will get a chance for a hat-trick of golds in Friday 's giant slalom -- he won the title in 2011 in that discipline . The championships are an important staging post ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi in a year 's time .
Ted Ligety wins super - combi events at world skiing championships . Ligety has also claimed the super - G title in 1984 . Superb slalom skiing under floodlights key to his success . Veteran Ivica finishes second for Yugoslavia .