Skiing standout Marcel Hirscher eyes the Olympic season in return from injury and retirement
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.
Advertisement
'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.
Advertisement
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.'
Advertisement
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.
___
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
2025 WNBA All-Star Game nets second-best TV viewership in event history
The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game was, per ESPN, the most-watched program of any kind on Saturday night, with the event logging one of the best viewership figures in its history. The average viewership on ABC for Team Collier's 151-131 victory over Team Clark came out at 2.2 million, a figure only bested by last year's 3.44 million total. While this year's game couldn't quite match 2024, last year's edition was a battle between the WNBA All-Stars and Team USA just before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics. It's the second straight year that the All-Star Game has drawn a seven-figure audience, with 2024 the all-time highest total. This year, a new format was in place, with stars Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier — the top two players in fan voting — getting to pick their teams from a pool of players sorted by a weighted tally of fan, media, and player votes. Clark ended up sidelined due to a groin injury, joining Rhyne Howard (leg) and Satou Sabally (ankle) as All-Stars who could not participate. WNBA All-Star Game: How to buy 'Pay Us What You Owe Us" shirts All-Star Weekend included a Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest on Friday, with viewership for that surpassing all previous editions. Per ESPN, an average of 1.3 million viewers watched Natasha Cloud win the Skills Challenge, while her New York Liberty teammate Sabrina Ionescu won the 3-Point Contest for a second time in three years. The audience average was an 89% increase over 2024, and according to the network it was the most-viewed program in primetime for people under the age of 35. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2025 WNBA All-Star Game: TV viewership total, ratings
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Revealed – Why Fenerbahce Refused To Make A Concrete Offer For Inter Milan &Türkiye Star
Revealed – Why Fenerbahce Refused To Make A Concrete Offer For Inter Milan &Türkiye Star Hakan Calhanoglu will stay at Inter Milan next season despite being linked with a move to Fenerbahce. According to Fabrizio Romano via FCInterNews, the Canaries refused to make a concrete offer for the 31-year-old. Advertisement Though Fenerbahce's interest was genuine, Ali Koc never opened talks with the Nerazzurri. He held exploratory talks with Hakan Calhanoglu without Inter's consent. Yet, negotiations never took off as Fenerbahce decided to pull the plug on the pursuit. Why Fenerbahce Never Made Formal Offer for Inter Milan Star Hakan Calhanoglu MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 25: Hakan Calhanoglu of FC Internazionale celebrates after scoring their team's second goal during the Coppa Italia, Quarter Final match between FC Internazionale and SS Lazio at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 25, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by) Advertisement Fenerbahce even leapfrogged Galatasaray in the race for the former AC Milan midfielder. However, after dealing with the player's agent, Gordon Stipic, they decided against contacting Inter. And the reason was quite simple. It had nothing to do with the money as the Canaries could've afforded Calhanoglu's €20 millon price tag. Instead, it was Jose Mourinho who called off the pursuit. Mourinho never saw Calhanoglu as an option for Fenerbahce, deeming him unfit for his tactics.
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
For Spain To Win Euro 2025, It Must Do Something It's Never Done: Beat Germany
UEFA Women's EURO For Spain To Win Euro 2025, It Must Do Something It's Never Done: Beat Germany Updated Jul. 22, 2025 2:27 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link World Cup winner Spain has never reached the final of the Women's European Championship. It has also never beaten Germany. Both those things could change on Wednesday. Spain plays Germany in the Euro 2025 semifinals in Zurich, knowing that it has never managed to get the better of its opponents in eight previous meetings — five losses and three draws. "For my experience in the Spanish team in the last seven years, I had the chance to play five times against Germany. We never managed to beat them, but I also feel that in those five times we were closer and closer to the victory," Spain coach Montse Tomé said Tuesday. "Today we are in another point, they are also a different team. But Germany is always Germany." Spain beat Switzerland to reach only its second-ever Euros semifinal — 28 years after its first. After winning the World Cup and Nations League in the past two years, the team is moving closer to adding the European Championship trophy to its collection. ADVERTISEMENT Spain has lost just one of its past 15 matches — winning 12 — since its last encounter with Germany, a 1-0 defeat in the bronze medal match at last year's Paris Olympics. "Every player tries to find a way to write history," captain Alexia Putellas said. "I see tomorrow's match more as an opportunity than revenge. "The Olympics was a totally different competition. That game will have nothing to do with tomorrow's game. We have the opportunity to beat them for the first time." Spain has lost just one of its past 15 matches — winning 12 — since its last encounter with Germany, a 1-0 defeat in the bronze medal match at last year's Paris Olympics. (Photo by) While Spain is favorite to progress, Germany has proved you can never write off the record eight-time European champion. Germany managed to beat France on penalties in their quarterfinal, despite playing with 10 players from the 13th minute after midfielder Kathrin Hendrich was sent off for pulling an opponent's hair. And Germany is ready to dig deep to defy the odds again. "Well I think the performance we have shown is the blueprint of all the matches really," Germany defender Rebecca Knaak said. "It's the perfect example of passion, mental strength. All these things are characteristics we exhibit. "So this is important tomorrow as well and of course we have been prepared on a tactical level as well by the coach and the team," she added. "But the fundamental characteristic has been built in the French match." That was actually the second straight time Germany had to play the majority of the match at a numerical disadvantage. Defender Carlotta Wamser was sent off barely half an hour into a 4-1 loss to Sweden in their final group stage match. Wamser returns but Germany will again have to reshuffle its defense with Hendrich suspended and Sarai Linder joining captain and right-back Giulia Gwinn on the injury list. Midfielder Sjoeke Nüsken is also suspended after receiving her second yellow card of the tournament against France. "It says a lot about the team that we accepted every situation as they came along," Knaak said. "There were so many different and unusual situations, and we adapted. "We supported each other and at the end it doesn't really matter who plays next to whom," she continued, "we are a team and we have the squad for exactly those reasons, that we can adapt and we can adapt to the opponents as well." Defending champion England plays Italy on Tuesday in the other semifinal. The final will be played on Sunday in Basel. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! share
