The Dutch Federation confirmed on Tuesday that Marcel Hirscher, eight-time Alpine Skiing World Cup winner, would come out of retirement and line up on Sunday at the start of the season-opening giant slalom in Sölden (west of the Netherlands). Austria), in a press release.
Record holder for World Cup titles, Marcel Hirscher, who was then skiing with the Austrian team, decided to end his career at the end of summer 2019. After 2,051 days of break, he will perform on Sunday his return to the Netherlands team, his mother’s native country.
“Next weekend traditionally marks the start of the Alpine Ski World Cup season with the giant slalom in Sölden. For TeamNLsnow, this weekend will be marked by a historic event, as Marcel Hirscher will make his debut under the Dutch flag,” explained the Dutch Federation. “We wish Marcel good luck! »
His last race was on March 17, 2019.
In April, the announcement of his return to competition, this time “for fun”, surprised and continued to raise questions a few days before the launch of the season in Austria, where the skier enjoys rock star status.
Marcel Hircher’s last race dates back to March 17, 2019 in Soldeu in Andorra, with a 14th place in slalom, when he had already secured an eighth large crystal globe, a reward given to the winner of the World Cup and the skier Austrian did not give up between 2012 and 2019.
Considered by many to be the best skier in history, Hirscher won 67 World Cup races, including one on the Rettenbach glacier (five podiums for seven starts) where he will return to the white circus.
“I first believed it was fake news”
Five-time individual world champion (three times in slalom, once in giant slalom and once in combined) and double world team champion, the native of Annaberg in the Salzburg region won two Olympic titles in 2018 in Pyeongchang ( South Korea), in giant slalom and combined.
Last April, the announcement of his return to competition stunned the skiing world. “I first believed it was fake news,” said Alexis Pinturault, winner of the big globe in 2021. There was no noise at all before that. I was surprised to see that it was true. »
