After over 1000 days

Time of suffering comes to an end: ÖSV stalwart celebrates comeback

Christian Hirschbühl returns.

(Bild: GEPA )

Great news from the ÖSV camp: Christian Hirschbühl is celebrating his long-awaited comeback on November 17 at the slalom in Levi (FIN)!

The Vorarlberg native, who suffered a broken ankle in the slalom in Wengen in January 2022, is returning to the Alpine Ski World Cup for the first time in over 1000 days.

"The anticipation of a race after such a long break is naturally great. The almost three-year period of suffering seems to have come to an end, which makes me personally very happy, because for a long time it didn't look like I would be able to ski competitively again," said the winner of the 2021 World Cup parallel race in Lech-Zürs. 

Need to catch up, but no pain
"In the last two or three weeks, I've measured myself against the guys in training and seen that there's still a bit of catching up to do, but I'm ready for a start," said the 34-year-old. "The injured leg feels stable so far. I've made great progress in training, especially in the last few weeks, and I'm not in any pain when riding."

Pfeifer: "He has had a tough time"
Marko Pfeifer is also very relieved. "Christian has had a tough time after his serious injury and has made a great fight back. He has been back in snow training since the beginning of the year and would have had his chance in Kranjska Gora in March, but unfortunately the race there was canceled," says the head coach, delighted with his protégé's return. He has shown good performances in training recently: "I hope that he can build on his old strengths when he makes his comeback in Finland."