The 35-year-old Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher has decided to return to racing five years after his retirement in 2019: however, he will do so for the Netherlands, his mother’s country of origin. The Austrian ski federation said it had already given permission to Hirscher to change national team with which to compete: to make the return official, all that is missing is the green light from the international Federation (the FIS).
Hirscher is considered one of the best skiers ever and the news of his retirement, when he was only 30, was surprising to many. In fact, in 2019 he was still the best skier in the world and had just won his eighth Alpine Skiing World Cup (the main professional skiing competition circuit). In his career he has won 67 World Cup races, 2 Olympic gold medals and 7 gold medals at the World Championships.
The statement with which the Austrian Federation (ÖSV) said it had accepted Hirscher’s choice to compete for the Netherlands
According to the Austrian newspaper Crown newspaper, the decision to ski for the Dutch national team and not for the Austrian one is explained by Hirscher’s desire not to take away the place of any of his teammates from the Austrian national team. Hirscher’s goal would be to return to competing in the World Cup to prepare for the World Championships (a different event, which lasts only a fortnight and is held every two years), which will take place in March 2025 in Austria, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.
Hirscher’s case is in some ways similar to that of 24-year-old skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who competed for Norway until 2023 (the year in which he won the slalom World Cup). In March 2023 he decided to retire due to disputes with the Norwegian federation related to sponsorships. In March 2024, however, Pinheiro Braathen announced that he wanted to return to compete with Brazil, his mother’s country of origin, from next season.