Marcel Hirscher returned to World Cup alpine skiing and placed 23rd in the season-opening giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. The result looked modest. But it carried real weight: it was the first time since January 2022 that a racer for the Netherlands had scored World Cup points.
An orange suit back on a familiar mountain
The 35-year-old came out of retirement after five years. This time he raced for his mother's home country. He stood in the start gate with bib 34 and a bright orange-white Dutch suit.
A crowd of 33,000 people packed the Rettenbach glacier. It was a record for the opening weekend. They came to watch their old hero ski again.
Hirscher skied two clean runs with no big mistakes. Then he lost time in the lower section and nearly slid off his line. "It was pretty good until midway through the steep, after that, I got too late on my race line and nearly slid off the course," he told Austrian TV.
Third-fastest run signals the old class
He only just made the final run. Then he set the third-fastest second-run time in the whole field. He finished 2.16 seconds behind the winner, Alexander Steen Olsen, who led an all-Norwegian podium.
The day held more drama. Marco Odermatt, the three-time overall champion, crashed out in the first run. Lucas Braathen finished fourth for Brazil in his own comeback.
Hirscher retired in 2019 with 67 World Cup wins, the second-most in men's history, and eight straight overall titles. The best earlier Dutch result was Marvin van Heek's eighth place in a 2012 downhill. That shows how rare Dutch points are.
"It's very emotional, it's very nice," Hirscher said afterwards. The numbers were small by his standards. But a new flag now flies beside one of the sport's greatest careers.
