Austrian Marcel Hirscher is working on his second comeback at home. The eight-time overall World Cup winner, who competes for the Netherlands, is still leaving the time and place of his return open.
25.11.2025, 10:26
25.11.2025, 11:34
SDA
"The sooner, the better. What I'm no longer doing is going to the start in Gurgl as unprepared as I did last year," said the 36-year-old on "Sport und Talk aus dem Hangar-7" on ServusTV, as reported by Austria's news agency apa.
Hirscher recalled how he had returned last year after a five and a half year break, struggled on the tough slopes and tore his cruciate ligament shortly afterwards. This time he wanted to proceed more cautiously: He will only return "when I am halfway competitive, when everything goes well so that qualification for the second run is possible".
Hirscher has been training on snow in the pole forest again since the end of September and completed his first sessions in the World Cup environment at the beginning of November. In training in Sölden, he was 2.5 seconds off the pace. "I still have a bit of work to do," he said.
Nevertheless, he feels he is making progress: "I feel much more comfortable than last year. It's nice that I can hit some turns again. Whether that's enough to ski fast, I don't know - it's going to be very difficult."
The material is also still giving him a headache. The slalom has become "a battle of equipment" and the set-up is difficult to understand: "You can tell which brands and which set-ups work well on day X."
Hirscher names Madonna di Campiglio on January 7 as the earliest possible start - one month before the Olympic Games. The slalom specialist soberly assesses his chances of a successful return: "Time hasn't stood still. As a professional athlete, I'm more of a discontinued model."
