Skiing standout Marcel Hirscher will have a chance to race in the upcoming Milan-Cortina Olympics after recovering from injury and receiving clearance to compete in the next World Cup season under the new wild card rule.
The record eight-time overall World Cup champion had his return last season from five years of retirement cut short when he was injured in December with a torn ACL in his left knee after a fall in training.
“Rehab was going on quite well and now we are back in athletic training. This is super fun, being back a professional athlete again,” Hirscher said on Instagram on Wednesday.
“FIS (the International Ski and Snowboard Federation) made a decision that I am allowed to take my 17 starts from last year’s season into the upcoming season. So that means I’m ready for another season ski racing. And I think now you can call it a comeback,” Hirscher added.
While the 36-year-old Hirscher competed for Austria in his earlier career, he came back representing the Netherlands. He has an Austrian father and a Dutch mother. That means that if he decides to compete in the Olympics next year, he won't have to qualify for one of the four starting spots that the powerful Austrian team has for each race. Whereas the Netherlands doesn't have any other skiers of Hirscher's caliber.
The wild card rule allows former champions to return to the World Cup without the necessary qualifying points.
Lindsey Vonn also returned under the wild card rule last season with a new titanium knee and plans on competing in the Feb. 6-22 Olympics.
Hirscher only completed one of his three races last season, placing 23rd in the giant slalom at Sölden, Austria.
After the injury and ensuing surgery, Hirscher completed 1,000 hours of rehab.
“In the end, two questions remained: What do I want from life? What does life want from me?” Hirscher said. “Even in difficult moments, my answer never changed: I want to race again.”
Hirscher plans to return to snow training in September.
“At the moment, I’m shifting from the rehabilitation phase into full athlete mode, with more extensive sessions and higher intensity,” Hirscher said. “Training hard again is bringing me a lot of joy. It’s shaping up to be a very athletic summer.”
Hirscher’s 67 World Cup wins put him second on the all-time men’s list behind only Ingemar Stenmark’s 86 victories. He also won two Olympic golds, in combined and giant slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games; plus a silver in slalom at the 2014 Sochi Games.
The World Cup seasons opens in Sölden in October.
Men’s skiing at the Milan-Cortina Games will be held in Bormio, while the women’s events will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
