After the Sölden show

Hirscher: “This is almost worth more than any victory”

Marcel Hirscher

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Marcel Hirscher is back in the Ski World Cup! With 23rd place in the giant slalom, the overall World Cup record winner made his comeback in Sölden on Sunday. For the man from Salzburg, his comeback in the Holland dress was "almost worth more" than his 67 World Cup victories. 

Hirscher described his return after a five-year break from racing as "very emotional" in an ORF interview. "Skiing has always been my life and the fact that it's working out like this today is simply wonderful. I'm really happy. It's a real privilege. Of course it looks great now, but you can also lose a lot. If I was six seconds behind, everyone would say, look, he's got really old."

But where does he place this comeback in the overall picture of his career? Is this return even comparable to one of his World Cup victories? Hirscher quite frankly: "No, I think it's almost worth more!"

(Bild: APA/AFP)

"Super cool"
Hirscher started 2,051 days after his retirement with number 34. "It's pretty weird after five years of retirement," the 35-year-old former star, who is now scoring points for the Netherlands, told ORF after run one. "It was pretty good until the middle of the steep slope, then I thought: now the devil will get me, now I'll be off the line later and later. Stay safe." It was "super cool", said Hirscher. "A little over two seconds behind, that was the same in training. When I think that I can do that for the whole season, it's super cool."

Third fastest Austrian
The eight-time overall World Cup winner then took even more risk in the second run - and it paid off. Hirscher made up quite a few places. In the end, he even finished in 23rd place, making the neo-Dutchman from Salzburg the third fastest Austrian.