Which start number?

Hirscher: “I’ll just ski down there now”

Marcel Hirscher is ready for his comeback.

(Bild: Christoph Oberschneider)

Marcel Hirscher will be competing in the men's giant slalom for the Netherlands in Sölden on Sunday. This was announced by his team on Friday after several days of speculation. The FIS had already signed off on his start weeks ago and approved Hirscher's wildcard application.

 "I'm very happy and also very excited," said Hirscher. The overall World Cup record winner will be making his comeback more than five and a half years after what was supposed to be his last race.

Hirscher will receive a low starting number after the number 30. 500 WCSL points skiers such as ÖSV skier Vincent Kriechmayr or the German Linus Straßer will be ranked ahead of him. In any case, he will have a lower number than Lucas Braathen, the other prominent comeback athlete in the ski circus. Braathen is competing for Brazil, he had taken a season off after his retirement and is not eligible for a wild card.

"An extremely long time"
In his heyday, Hirscher dominated the giant slalom and slalom disciplines for almost a decade. He celebrated 67 individual victories and won the overall World Cup eight times. He also won seven gold medals at the World Championships and was twice Olympic champion, and is considered by many to be the best alpine skier in history. 

"I can assess myself very well: 2,051 days, five winters, is an extremely long time in ski racing. Some of the guys are competing with equipment that I don't even know. I'm happy with my physical fitness, I feel younger than when I finished my career," explained Hirscher. "The fact that I don't have as much snow training as I need is simply because I now lead a completely different life in which I have more responsibility."

Like everyone else, he has no idea where he stands at the moment. "So much has already been said, written and calculated: I'll just ski down there now, then we'll all know more," said Hirscher.