He's Back. Alpine Skiing Legend Marcel Hirscher Announces Comeback For Netherlands
In a surprising turn of events, eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher has announced he's coming out of retirement to compete for the Netherlands. The Austrian ski legend, who dominated the sport for nearly a decade, hung up his boots in 2019 but has a fire rekindled for competition.
Hirscher, now 35, holds dual citizenship thanks to his Dutch mother. Hirscher was born and raised in Austria to an Austrian father and a Dutch mother, Sylvia. His father, Ferdinand, coached him throughout his career.
This allows him to switch allegiance under International Ski Federation (FIS) rules. The Austrian Ski Federation released a statement today confirming Hirscher's request and wishing him well in his return.
"I want to be able to compete again because that is what I love," Hirscher said in a press release from the Dutch Ski Federation. This move adds a surprising twist to the upcoming season. While details are still emerging, Red Bull's ski racing director, Patrick Riml, shared that Hirscher plans to compete in lower-level FIS races in New Zealand this August to regain World Cup qualifying points.
The nationality switch permits Hirscher to compete on Van Deer skis – the brand he helped create with Red Bull, his sponsor. Van Deer is not on the list of brandsin the Austrian ski pool.
“I have an excellent relationship with the ÖSV and am grateful to them for everything we have achieved,” he added. “This new project is best realized as a Dutch person.”
“In the last few days there have been discussions with various people involved in which we were informed that Marcel Hirscher could imagine returning to the international ski circuit. As the Austrian Ski Association, we have of course tried very hard to offer Marcel the best possible and individual conditions in the event of a return to alpine racing and were able to explain these to him in a personal exchange. Of course, we very much regret his decision to request a change of nation to the Dutch Ski Association (Nederlandse Ski Vereniging/NSV), but in the end we supported it. Marcel has done enormous things for skiing and for the ÖSV. In appreciation of this and in the spirit of the internationality of skiing, the ÖSV Presidential Conference unanimously approved his request for a change of association today,” explained ÖSV General Secretary Christian Scherer during an official video call with the media today.
Patrick Riml, Red Bull’s ski racing director, said “He’s been training the whole season. He’s been on snow pretty much every day of the winter testing his equipment,” “He was amazing when he was racing, he was the best one out there,” Riml told The Associated Press. “Marcel is Marcel.”
“My understanding is that the last couple of years, he was always thinking about it,” Riml said. “Then he decided on very, very short notice that he really wants to do this. Then we got to work trying to get all the documentations in place and everything will be submitted today to the FIS council for approval, which is just a formality.”
“It’s hard to predict anything right now,” Riml said. “We just have to see how things are going. It’s a step by step process. … The goal right now is to get back on track, train hard and get some first races and then see where he’s at. … Right now the goal is this season. But then then you never know, right?”
“Taking the sport to a whole new level of off-season entertainment,” Aksel Lund Svindal, another former overall World Cup winner, wrote on Instagram. “It seems like we have a transfer market in ski racing.”
Marcel Hirscher has shaped skiing in the last few decades like no other. His retirement in September 2019 represented a turning point in the Alpine Ski World Cup. Even his farewell mutated into a ratings hit. Over 1.1 million viewers were there live during prime time television on ORF when Marcel Hirscher ended his racing career. Servus TV also broadcast the red-white-red superstar's entry into the ski pension live. At the time, the 30-year-old Annaberger spoke with absolute relaxation about the right moment. “I never wanted to overlook the moment and leave as a winner. It feels right and good.”
In fact, Marcel Hirscher has won everything there is to win in skiing and has set a series of records. Winner of the overall World Cup eight times in a row, he won the small crystal ball six times each in slalom and giant slalom, 67 World Cup victories, 138 podium places, two Olympic gold medals, one silver medal. And with seven World Cup titles and four silver medals, Hirscher is also the most successful World Cup participant of all time, the world champion among world champions, so to speak. Achievements that earned him the highest recognition far beyond Austria, where he was voted “Athlete of the Year” six times: in 2017, the National Olympic Committees elected him “Europe’s Athlete of the Year,” and the renowned newspaper L’Equipe named him He was even named “World Athlete of the Year” in 2018.
Hirscher's sights seem set on next year's World Championships held in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, his home country. This return, particularly under a new flag, has generated a buzz in the skiing world. The Dutch Ski Federation is ecstatic to have a talent of Hirscher's caliber join their ranks, hoping his presence will boost the sport's popularity in the Netherlands.
