2024-04-25 08:25:01
For Marko Pfeifer it is clear that Hirscher still has what it takes to be at the forefront. “It goes without saying that he hasn’t forgotten how to ski,” said Austria’s men’s head coach. “I also know that Marcel constantly trained his fitness, that he was constantly skiing. “It will of course be an issue of the starting number,” says the Carinthian. Currently World Cup starts would not be possible for Hirscher due to the FIS rules.
After five seasons as a ski pensioner, whose FIS status was officially set to inactive and who achieved no results, he is starting almost from scratch once more. “If Marcel gets into an area where he has the starting number once more in the World Cup, then I assume that he can be at the top once more,” said Pfeifer.
The milestones in Hirscher’s career
Measured by his eight victories in the overall World Cup, Marcel Hirscher is the most successful skier in the history of the sport. The Salzburger followed his debut triumph in the World Cup in Val d’Isere in 2009 with 66 further victories, as well as seven World Cup titles and two Olympic gold medals.
Still below in the FIS ranking
The qualifying standards for World Cup races are evaluated before each season and then apply throughout the winter. Last year, for men, only the top 150 on the FIS points list in the respective discipline had the right to start. In the last April list for the 2023/24 season, Hirscher is ranked 300th in slalom and 777th in giant slalom. As soon as the change of nation is actually officially completed and the Salzburger is considered active once more, a Herculean task awaits him if he decides want to work forward.
The numerous FIS races are particularly suitable for this, where young people usually gain racing experience. The condition of the slopes is usually far from World Cup standards. It starts in the (European) summer in New Zealand and South America. At these races, Hirscher would have to write several times to get his World Cup license back. For major events, however, the criteria are less strict – so nothing should stand in the way of starting at the 2025 home World Cup in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.
Neureuther has a lot of confidence in Hirscher
“If someone can do it, then Marcel is the only one you can trust,” said Felix Neureuther, who was also convinced that his long-time companion and friend can make a successful comeback. “When Marcel is at the start, he wants to deliver,” said the most successful German World Cup athlete. The Bavarian emphasized that he does not believe that Hirscher primarily has a marketing campaign in mind.
Hirscher’s company made a statement saying that he wanted to “combine his joy of racing with his professional task of testing and further developing equipment for his ski brand Van Deer-Red Bull Sports.” The protagonists on Wednesday spoke noticeably often regarding the joy of racing – although Hirscher had stated several times following his retirement in 2019 that he had just lost interest in it. Hirscher’s Van Deer colleague Anton Giger, on the other hand, emphasized that it was felt “that he had always thought regarding a comeback”.
Impulse for the ski industry and winter tourism
For Austrian winter tourism, a Hirscher media presence in the Netherlands would have the pleasant side effect of drumming up the advertising drum in an important home market. With 6.7 million overnight stays in the 2022/23 winter season, according to Statistics Austria, the Netherlands is number two in terms of foreign guests behind Germany and is already an important factor for domestic businesses. Guests from the country also stay longer than average in Austria during a winter holiday. Hirscher might further fuel the enthusiasm for skiing in the Netherlands.
By far the best World Cup placement of an “Oranje” starter to date was achieved by Marvin van Heek in 2012, who finished eighth in a shortened descent in Val Gardena. Among women, German-born Christa Kinshofer even came fifth twice in the 1980s.
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