Confirmed: Marcel Hirscher is making a comeback

Star alpinist Marcel Hirscher is making a comeback at the age of 35 – but not for Austria.

The Austrian Ski Federation confirms on Wednesday morning that the 35-year-old will return to the alpine circus. However, he will drive for the Netherlands, not Austria, it appears in the press release.

Hirscher wants to drive for his mother’s homeland. Austria confirm they have released the 35-year-old’s license allowing him to represent the Netherlands.

At the same time, the Austrian Ski Federation makes no secret of the fact that they tried to persuade him to represent them.

– Marcel has done a great deal for skiing and for Austria. As an appreciation of this and in the spirit of international skiing, we have today unanimously approved his wish to change associations, says Christian Scherer, general secretary of the Austrian Ski Association.

Hirscher is thus following in Lucas Braathen’s footsteps. The Norwegian gave up in the autumn, before he confirmed in March that he is making a comeback for Brazil.

Hirscher retired in 2019. He has seven WC golds and two Olympic golds. In addition, he has won 67 World Cup races. Only Ingemar Stenmark has more victories on the men’s side.