Details of his return

Shortly after his birthday, Marcel got serious

Skiing for the Netherlands in the future: Marcel Hirscher

(Bild: GEPA)

"Krone" reporter and ski expert Alexander Hofstetter writes about Marcel Hirscher's sensational return in his column.

What can we really expect from Marcel Hirscher on his comeback in the Alpine Ski World Cup? Experts, fans, coaches and competitors are certain: "If Marcel returns, then only if he can compete for victories!" Of course, it's true that this has always been and always will be the ambition of the "foolish one".

But a Hirscher who mercilessly subordinates everything to his performance will and can no longer exist. Hirscher is now 35, has two children, two dogs and, last but not least, runs two companies as an entrepreneur. He will no longer be able to manage skiing and tough training as a full-time job like he used to.

And: the FIS races in New Zealand, where Hirscher wants to get the necessary points, are brutal "derbies". Hirscher will start the race with high starting numbers, in slope conditions that will be no walk in the park even for an exceptional skier like him.

Commentating for the "Krone": Alexander Hofstetter

(Bild: Pail Sepp, Krone KREATIV)

And Hirscher has not competed in a ski race for five years. Since his retirement, he has - according to his own estimates - had around one hundred days of skiing, 90 percent of which were hobby days (by Hirscher's standards). The fact that videos of Hirscher testing his Van Deer skis and pole training kept popping up on social media naturally gave the impression that Hirscher was still going strong and that Marcel might even be toying with a comeback. However, these racing sessions were few and far between.

Two scenarios
Not only Hirscher, but of course also the competition is facing an explosive challenge. If Hirscher has no chance at all, it could be said that he is tarnishing his fairytale career. If, five years later, he is still driving the competition into the ground, one or two people will be asking themselves the question. "Please stay away from us," Manuel Feller has already told the Hirscher team with a wink.

All in all, you could say: "Typical Hirscher"! Incidentally, he got really serious with his idea around a week after his birthday (March 2). That's when he knew that if he really wanted to return, he had to slowly get into gear. However, according to "Team Hirscher", there is no real, finished master plan for training and the New Zealand camp. Or not yet, anyway.

The solution with the Netherlands, Marcel's mother's home country, was of course the obvious choice. Not least for touristic and economic reasons. Even if "orange" ski racers are a rarity, people in Austria know how enthusiastic the Dutch are about skiing. One thing is already clear: the tension for the 2024/25 World Championship winter with the highlight of the gold medal hunt in Saalbach couldn't be higher, Hirscher is back!