Marcel Hirscher plans to race on the Alpine skiing World Cup on Sunday for the first time in five years.
Hirscher, an eight-time World Cup overall champion for Austria who in April announced a comeback for the Netherlands, confirmed Friday that he will race Sunday’s season-opening giant slalom in Sölden, Austria.
Peacock airs live coverage at 5 a.m. ET (first run) and 8 a.m. (second run).
“It’s logical that I’m not and can’t be at the same level I was at,” Hirscher, 35, said in a press release. “Nor am I at the level I could perhaps still reach. I can really assess myself: 2,051 days, five winters, is an extremely long time in ski racing: some of the guys are at the start with equipment that I don’t even know. I’m happy with my physical fitness, I feel younger than when I stopped my career. The fact that I don’t have as much snow training as I need, well, that’s just because I live a completely different life now, where I have more responsibility.
“So much has been said, written and calculated: I’ll just go down there now and then we’ll all know more.”
Hirscher previously said that he would wait until shortly before the race before deciding whether he would start.
Friday’s press release stated that experts advised he not return to the World Cup until mid-December to “compensate for deficits in his training.”
“Nevertheless, I decided differently — to use the opportunity and take the experience with me,” Hirscher said. “I used to always have that moment before Sölden when I knew: ‘OK, I’m good.’ I no longer have that reference feeling. From that point of view, I feel exactly the same as everyone who comments on and analyzes the situation: I have no idea where I really stand — the only way for me to find out is to race on Sunday.”
Hirscher was asked in an Oct. 7 interview if a top-15 finish in Sölden would be realistic. He answered by saying he still had four seconds to make up in training.
In 2019, Hirscher retired after winning his record-extending eighth consecutive World Cup overall title, one year after winning Olympic gold in the giant slalom and combined.
For his comeback, he switched nationality from Austria to the Netherlands. His mom is Dutch.
It’s unclear whether Hirscher’s return will extend to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“The project is at least for one more year, and then I think it’s done again because then I’m turning 36,” he told Dutch broadcaster NOS in July. “Then there’s a point where you are definitely getting too old for being a professional Alpine ski racer.”
