Return as athlete and ski producer Hirscher's typical restraint and the explosive dual role

Marcel Hirscher is exercising typical restraint ahead of his return to alpine racing. The 35-year-old Austrian has set himself modest goals.

Keystone-SDA

24.07.2024, 15:03

24.07.2024, 15:53

SDA

Of course, it had to be the Netherlands, the country for which Marcel Hirscher will be racing in his second career. The Salzburg native presented his plans in Zoetermeer, including his planned return to the World Cup. The town, located around 20 kilometers north of Rotterdam, has a connection to skiing with its spacious indoor facility. The operators boast that they have the steepest slope in Europe under roof.

Hirscher is planning his first competitive outings in New Zealand in mid-August. He will "do a few races", said the man from Salzburg, without giving specific dates. His aim is to improve his position in the FIS points lists in slalom and giant slalom. In order to be eligible to start in the World Cup, the value of 140 points must not be exceeded in the respective disciplines, which requires a ranking among the top 150 racers. Hirscher is currently ranked 300th in the slalom and 693rd in the giant slalom.

Hirscher is also traveling to the southern hemisphere "to train as much as possible in three weeks. Whether it will be enough for the season opener in the World Cup remains to be seen. In any case, I'm excited to see how it will feel to wear a race number again." So there he was again, the confidence trickster who had always held back with predictions even at the peak of his sporting career.

Fun in the foreground

Hirscher is keeping his own expectations at a low level, at least for the time being. His goals have shifted. "Above all, I want to have fun. Believe me: it's no longer about hundredths of a second for me." In New Zealand, he is focusing on getting into the swing of things. "Then I'll see what I'm still capable of." There is no longer-term planning. Possible comparisons with the current greats in the alpine circus, such as Marco Odermatt, are therefore still a long way off for the eight-time overall World Cup winner.

Hirscher spoke firmly and with a serious face. The belief that the former dominator will compete without any sporting ambition was nevertheless lacking. It wouldn't really suit him, who once subordinated everything to success and whose greed for victories and titles had driven him to great deeds time and time again.

Hirscher announced his surprising intention to become a ski racer again five years after his retirement at the end of April. He thus put an end to the rumors and speculation that had been doing the rounds in those days - and had initially been dismissed as a pipe dream and sensationalist tabloid fiction. Even then, he had put the fun of it all in the foreground.

Inspired by Braathen

On Wednesday, Hirscher also described how the idea of a return had developed. At the beginning of March, in the days around his birthday, he still didn't know that he would return to the race tracks. He was inspired by Lucas Braathen's announcement that he would reverse his decision to retire before last season and compete for Brazil, his mother's home country, from next winter. That's when he started to think that racing could be something for him again.

Of course, the perfectionist Hirscher had already worked out important details before going public. Even then it was clear that he would be competing for the Netherlands, his mother's home country. Hirscher justified the change of nation by stating that he did not want to take the place of another athlete in the Austrian team. Those responsible at the Austrian federation were quickly aware of his intentions. At Ski Austria, they acted quickly and immediately gave Hirscher the go-ahead - also in the spirit of his "great services to skiing".

The "double Hirscher"

The very special thing about this special return will be Hirscher's dual role. An athlete who is also a ski producer - this has never happened before in the World Cup. And this premiere, in turn, holds additional explosive potential, especially as two of his direct competitors, Norwegians Henrik Kristoffersen and Timon Haugan, are under contract with the Van Deer company. The boss in battle with his employees - an interesting comparison, possibly not entirely free of background noise. If only Hirscher were a World Cup skier again - and the fun might have to give way to higher standards.