Marcel Hirscher dominated the Slalom and Giant Slalom World Cup circuit for the majority of his career. With 67 wins to his name, he sits only behind Lindsey Vonn (82 wins), Ingemar Stenmark (86 wins) and Mikaela Shiffrin (97 wins) for most all-time.
Hirscher competed for his home country of Austria until retiring from competitive ski racing in September of 2019.
Nearly five years later, he's shocked the world by announcing today, April 24, 2024 that he's returning to ski racing next season, but with a twist.
Instead of donning the Austrian flag, Hirscher will take advantage of his dual-citizenship and compete for The Netherlands, the home country of his mother. Hirscher posted the video below to explain the decision.
He speaks in German throughout, keep scrolling below the video for a rough translation to English.
Hirscher's video has been translated to English below:
"Hello, hello, hi, Marcel is here and I think, yes, it's time that I say something about it too. A lot has been reported and yes, it is true. I will try again to take part in ski races and I am really happy that it can now take place. And yes, many people asked me, why are you doing this again, Marcel, why are you doing this?
And it's relatively clear to me that I'm doing this because the joy of skiing has never gone away. And I just have so much fun, even when I was five when I was skiing.
And for me personally it was so important that I didn't take away the resources of the young athletes in Austria, the young talents.
And my project is very successful because no one can take anything away from me. And I'm very happy that I have this opportunity. It's very easy because of a dual citizenship. I'm just looking forward to what's coming. Especially when I think of Van Deer Red Bull. Two years ago, I started Van Deer Red Bull Sports to start in the ski world cup.
Henrik, super successful, world champion. Timon Haugan last year, mega season. And now I can be there at FIS races and maybe find even better material for the guys. I think that's really great. In other words, awesome. And, um, I like it and maybe training together with Lukas Braten. And I think it's just a very cool chance for me to just live out my passion again and to take the best with me again from skiing.
And in that sense, what else is there to say? Um, yeah. Exactly, that's maybe just a nice metaphor. I've raced 247 races for the Fatherland. There will be a few less for my Motherland. And I think that's how you can leave it at that. And I'm incredibly looking forward to nice moments together. And outside it's really cold.
I think you're as excited as I am about the shorts. On the weekend it's sunshine. And in that sense, have a nice summer. And we'll hear from each other soon in winter. Ciao."
The response has been overwhelmingly positive from fans and colleagues alike. The video in which Hirscher announces his comeback has received hundreds of comments in the short hour since uploading.
All-time great Lindsey Vonn and Van Deer-Red Bull teammate Travis Ganong made sure to chime in words of encouragement and support:
Lindsey Vonn: "Cannot wait to see you race again!! Gemma!!"
Travis Ganong: "Can’t wait to see you back!"
Hirscher is a global skiing superstar with nearly three quarter of a million followers to his name. Hailing from a land that proudly excels in ski racing, Hirscher's dominance on the World Cup circuit thrust him into the international spotlight for over a decade.
It's unclear where he'll stack up against the likes of Marco Odermatt next season (the new Hirscher of Slalom and Giant Slalom if you will) but fans will surely be paying attention no matter his performance.
Hirscher mentioned in the video that his return to the World Cup is because the "...joy of skiing has never gone away." He also intends to use his on-course experiences to support his Van Deer-Red Bull Sports brand and teammates.
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