Normally, in Marcel Hirscher’s world, every hundredth of a second counts. Things were a little different at the Wings for Life World Run on Sunday.
Instead of trying, like everyone else, to escape the “catcher car” for as long as possible, the Salzburg man took it easy – at least for the first kilometer.
“Today I had the honor of walking the first kilometer with my buddy Max Franz,” the 35-year-old commented on an Instagram photo in which he and Max Franz can be seen waving after him in the background.
Of course, there is a reason why Franz stopped running. In November 2022, the Carinthian broke both legs in a fall during training. Torn ligaments, shattered ligaments, a severed nerve: even the end of his career was on the cards. The 34-year-old was dependent on a wheelchair for a long time and therefore greatly appreciates the intention of the run – to raise money for spinal cord research.
Both Hirscher and Franz share the goal of returning to the World Cup. Of course under different circumstances. Hirscher recently announced his resignation. The former overall World Cup winner will no longer compete for Austria, but for the Netherlands – his mother’s country of birth.
