Hirscher Returns After Five-Year Absence
Marcel Hirscher has made his decision: 2.051 days after his last race in March 2019, he will return to the race track at the World Cup opener in Sölden on Sunday, October 27, 2024. With great anticipation, and with a lot of gratitude. Free from the former pressure of expectation and “still really excited”.
"So much has been said, written and calculated: I'll just go down there now and then we'll all know more."
With this in mind, he ultimately made the decision to compete in the World Cup opener in Sölden after all, explains Marcel Hirscher. An opportunity that only opened up for him during summer thanks to the FIS wildcard decision: “It was clear to me that I would be racing in FIS races. Then the great option came up and since then we have tried everything to make it possible.”
“Two Versions Of Myself Colliding With Each Other...”
It wasn't an easy decision for him, admits Marcel Hirscher - just as it wasn't easy for him when he retired in 2019 and this year in March, when his project “Austrian Skiing for the Netherlands” project made headlines around the world.
“Two versions of myself are clashing inside me: one loves this heart project of being able to be the ski racer I always wanted to compete with my own clothing and ski equipment. Racing for pure joy; collecting moments instead of results. And the racer and fighter that I used to be still exists. I only have to think about the countdown in the start house and my pulse climbs and I feel the adrenaline. So it's both: I'm extremely happy and I'm also really excited. That's why, as I've always said, I only made the decision at such short notice.”
He feels this ambivalence, but he no longer feels the pressure to perform that he used to, where second place was not enough. “It's logical that I'm not and can't be at the same level I was at. Nor am I at the level I could perhaps still reach. I can really assess myself: 2.051 days, five winters, is an extremely long time in ski racing: some of the guys are at the start with equipment that I don't even know. I'm happy with my physical fitness, I feel younger than when I stopped my career. The fact that I don't have as much snow training as I need, well, that's just because I live a completely different life now, where I have more responsibility.”
The same applies to material set-up: “It's different whether I'm working on material development for our company VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports on the big line - or whether I want to find my race set-up for my body, my biomechanics, my skiing style, my feet. After nine days of skiing in New Zealand and another eight in the two months since then, we are as far as we can be, because everyone has put in a huge amount of effort. ”
“I'm Like Everyone Else: I Have No Idea Where I Stand Now”
Marcel Hirscher admits that he had to make up his mind a little before deciding to start again in Sölden. After all, the advice from experts that he should not start until Val d'Isere and compensate for deficits in his training until then was correct.
“Nevertheless, I decided differently - to use the opportunity and take the experience with me. I used to always have that moment before Sölden when I knew: “Ok, I'm good.” I no longer have that reference feeling. From that point of view, I feel exactly the same as everyone who comments on and analyzes the situation: I have no idea where I really stand - the only way for me to find out is to race on Sunday.”
Expectations? Objectives? Marcel Hirscher: “No, I don't have any. It doesn't get me anywhere if I speculate. Sölden will allow me to make an initial assessment and, depending on the conditions, I'm expecting anything on the scale from “pretty decent anyway” to “oh, really far away”.” Postscript: “I want to be more like Marcel and less like Hirscher, the racehorse I used to be. Marcel is now 35 years old, delighted to have the chance to compete in a World Cup race - and is therefore also pretty excited.”
