The first rumors had become public during the night, and at breakfast yesterday the top of the Austrian Ski Association confirmed: Yes, Marcel Hirscher will be ski racing once more, and yes, the Salzburger will not be for the ÖSV in the future, but for the Netherlands His mother’s homeland, start. The 35-year-old’s comeback five years following his official retirement made waves, although those behind the eight-time overall World Cup winner tried very hard to keep the ball as low as possible when it came to sporting expectations.
“I would like the opportunity to race every now and then, simply because I enjoy it,” said Hirscher himself from his Van Deer Red Bull Sports team; his racing boss Toni Giger had previously said that one should “relativize” the comeback. “The races that Marcel will compete in are not races that will be broadcast on television. It is an entry at FIS level, nothing more and nothing less,” said the former ÖSV man. A start in the World Cup is still very far away for Hirscher, for such a start he would need a place in the top 150 in the FIS rankings. In the current FIS ranking, Hirscher appears in 300th place in the slalom and 777th in the giant slalom. Under the heading “Status” it already says “active”, and underneath there is the note “not allowed”.
However, permission to start should only be a formality, as the ÖSV does not interfere with the former figurehead’s change of nation. In a presidential conference held yesterday at half past seven in the morning, the unanimous decision was made to support Hirscher’s move to the Netherlands. “We do this as an appreciation for his services. We would also have liked to see him compete in Austria with the support of the Austrian Ski Association, but we respect his decision,” said ÖSV General Secretary Christian Scherer. The Hirscher team said they didn’t want to stand in the way of any ÖSV squad athletes and that the comeback project might be better realized in the Netherlands. According to Scherer, the fact that Hirscher’s ski brand Van Deer is not a paying member of the Austria Ski Pool would not have been a problem for the ÖSV.
Author
Christoph Zöpfl
Head of sports department
Christoph Zöpfl
