Skiing standout Marcel Hirscher eyes the Olympic season in return from injury and retirement
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
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That's right — before she can even legally order a beer in most provinces, Summer is attempting something that only the greatest swimmer in history has ever achieved. And her chances actually look pretty good after she broke three world records at the trials in Victoria (in the 400m freestyle and the 200m and 400m individual medleys) while coming within a second of two more (in the 200m butterfly and 800m freestyle). The last swimmer to break three long-course world records at the same meet? Phelps in Beijing. Clearly, Summer is already in rarefied air. But, in order to match Phelps' record five golds at the world championships, McIntosh will have to defeat another GOAT-level American athlete in not one but two races. That would be Katie Ledecky, the 28-year-old freestyle endurance marvel who owns eight individual Olympic gold medals and 16 individual world titles. Five of those Olympic golds and 10 of those world titles have come in either the 400m or 800m freestyle. Those are the events where McIntosh and Ledecky will square off in Singapore, and it's safe to say they're the most highly anticipated showdowns of the entire swimming worlds, which open July 26 in Canadian time zones and run through Aug. 3. "Anytime I get to race Katie, it's a learning experience and it's always a good race," McIntosh told reporters on a conference call from her current training base in France. "I think we bring the best out of each other for sure." So, who's going to win these races? And what kind of times are these two incredible swimmers capable of laying down? To try and answer those questions, CBC Sports enlisted the help of Shoreview Sports Analytics to crunch the numbers and formulate predictions for how the Summer vs. Katie showdowns might play out. And to supplement that hard data with some softer, more subjective expertise, I discussed the matchups with my colleague Brittany MacLean Campbell, an Olympic relay bronze medallist who once held the Canadian records in the women's 400m and 800m freestyles and still owns the national 1,500m standard. She's now a swimming analyst for CBC Sports. Informed by those left- and right-brain analysis, here's a breakdown of the two big races. Women's 400m freestyle final - Sunday July 27 One of the cool things about this pair of showdowns is that McIntosh and Ledecky will switch roles. In one race, you're the hunter. In the other, you're the hunted. For the 400m freestyle, McIntosh is the clear favourite after reclaiming the world record at the Canadian trials with a time of 3:54.18, lopping more than a second off the mark set by Australia's Ariarne Titmus at the 2023 world championships. Titmus went on to win her second consecutive Olympic 400 free gold in Paris and may have been favoured to capture her third world title in Singapore. But the 24-year-old is taking a gap year to recharge for what she says will be her final Olympic Games in 2028. That leaves McIntosh and Ledecky — the Paris silver and bronze medallists, respectively — as the biggest stars in the race, with New Zealand's Erika Fairweather (fourth in Paris) lurking as a potential spoiler. McIntosh has never won the 400m freestyle world title. She took silver behind Ledecky in 2022, then placed a disappointing fourth in her highly anticipated matchup against Ledecky and Titmus at the 2023 worlds, where Fairweather snuck in for the bronze. At the 2024 Olympics, the 400 free was the only one of McIntosh's four solo races that she did not win. Ledecky, on the other hand, owns four world titles in the 400m freestyle along with an Olympic gold in 2016, where she set a world record that stood for nearly six years until Titmus broke it in 2022. Ledecky also defeated McIntosh in their most recent 400m matchup, at a star-studded Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in early May, overtaking the decade-younger Canadian on the final lap and posting her best time since winning the 2016 Olympic gold. It was a stunning return to form for Ledecky, who had appeared to be slowing down a bit in her late 20s (pretty old by elite-swimmer standards). But then McIntosh, who may have been slowed by an illness in Fort Lauderdale, reaffirmed her status as the world-title favourite with her record-smashing swim at the Canadian trials. Her 3:54.18 performance was even more impressive considering it came pretty early in the season (she's aiming to peak for the worlds) and that no one in that race was capable of pushing her (she won by a ridiculous 13 seconds). Taking that into account, the Shoreview analytics team believes McIntosh will defeat Ledecky at the world championships by more than a second, which equates to around a body length. Their model's expected range of outcomes for Summer has her going as fast as 3:53.93 (a new world record), with 3:57.48 (good for gold in Paris) representing an average of the best and worst times in her range. The model suggests Ledecky could go as quick as 3:55.21, with an average of 3:58.81. How does the model arrive at these times? Shoreview co-founder Mike Heenan says the process starts by "simulating 8,000 performance curves based on prior trends and physiological assumptions." Using that information, he simulated the race 20 times and selected one outcome that he thinks properly accounts for the upside apparent in Ledecky's and McIntosh's outstanding swims in May and June while still being mathematically sound. "It's a mix of art and science," he says. It's also possible that McIntosh blows past the range altogether and obliterates her world record. But Heenan reminds us that statistical models typically don't project such outlier performances — even for someone on Summer's meteoric trajectory. "Trying to predict something that's never happened before is challenging," he says. MacLean Campbell, our swimming analyst, is a bit bolder than the model. She's confident that McIntosh will clock in somewhere in the 3:53s, breaking the world record, and beat Ledecky by "a second, if not two." One reason MacLean Campbell is so bullish on Summer in this particular race? Motivation. "This is her biggest test. She's got something to prove here." Women's 800m freestyle final — Saturday Aug. 2 While McIntosh is the consensus pick in the 400m, Ledecky is favoured in the 800 — her signature event. But this one feels a little more up for grabs. Ledecky is the undisputed queen of the 800, winning the last four consecutive Olympic gold medals and six straight world titles. (Let's all agree to ignore the superfluous 2024 world championships, which most of the best swimmers skipped in an Olympic year). The American has maintained the world record since 2013 and, just when it seemed she might be past her prime, she lowered her nine-year-old standard of 8:04.79 from the Rio Olympics to 8:04.12 at the same Fort Lauderdale meet back in May where she beat McIntosh in the 400. Summer, meanwhile, is venturing out of her comfort zone. She swam the 800 at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, when she was just 14 years old, but did not advance past the qualifying heats. Despite defeating Ledecky in Florida prior to the 2024 Olympics — Ledecky's first 800m loss in 14 years — McIntosh did not include the 800 in her program for Paris. But she included it in her push for five golds at the world championships after an electrifying performance at the Canadian trials, where she laid down a 8:05.07. That's the third-fastest time in history and less than a second off Ledecky's world record. Ledecky, though, still owns 10 of the top 11 times ever, and her endurance bona fides are unassailable. She's won a pair of Olympic golds and five world titles in the 1,500m (pool swimming's longest distance) along with her massive collection of 800m golds. But McIntosh, to her credit, sought out this showdown. "One of the many reasons I picked the 800 [for the worlds] is because in my opinion it is the biggest challenge," she said. "Katie is so strong and in her top form this season, so that matchup will be awesome." Ledecky has been so good for so long that it's hard to pick against her in the 800. But Summer is still on the rise, and she had what she called the "best meet of my career" at the Canadian trials after she began working with French coach Fred Vergnoux. His group does pool training on the Riviera, where he's helped McIntosh build up her endurance for the 800, and altitude camp at a mountain ski resort, where he had her try cross-country skiing for the first time. "Fred has been absolutely incredible," said McIntosh, who lights up whenever she talks about him. "We've only been together for a few months now, but we've sparked up a relationship so quickly and bonded amazingly. He's such an amazing coach and he has really taken me to the next level in the sport." The feeling is mutual. "What makes the difference between [Summer] and the rest is that she never has an off day," Vergnoux told MacLean Campbell recently. "She's just embracing every single session to become better, and that's pretty unique." The tricky thing about predicting the 800m is there's not as much high-quality data to work with. McIntosh has only raced it a handful of times. For that reason, the Shoreview team decided to use what co-founder Ryan McDonnell refers to as "partial pooling" — in other words, a shared model between the two swimmers. This resulted in some pretty conservative time projections, but it also points to a doozy of a race. If we go by the average of their expected ranges, the model has Ledecky winning by less than a quarter of a second (8:06.10 to 8:06.34). By fastest time, it's even closer: Ledecky by just seven hundredths (8:01.24 to 8:01.31). Looking at those projections, MacLean Campbell thinks the fastest times might be a little ambitious given that the 800m final will happen on the second-last day of a gruelling meet for both swimmers. At the same time, she suspects the average is too slow and that, going head-to-head, McIntosh and Ledecky will push each other into the "8:03 or 8:04 range" and touch the wall within about a half second of each other — still incredibly close for such a long race. But maybe we'll give the last word to Vergnoux, who had a bold prediction when Brittany interviewed him for a recent episode of her swimming talk show, The Ready Room. The question at hand was whether McIntosh is capable of breaking Ledecky's 800m world record of 8:04.12 "I think Summer can go under eight minutes," her coach said. "No question." How to watch the swimming world championships As part of CBC Sports' ongoing coverage of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, you can watch every swimming race — prelims and finals — live on and CBC Gem. The finals begin at 7 a.m. ET each day, starting July 27. Here's the full streaming schedule. Summer McIntosh is expected to swim in these five individual finals: July 27: 400m freestyle July 28: 200m medley July 31: 200m butterfly Aug. 2: 800m freestyle Aug 3: 400m medley She's also expected to take part in some relays, though those are not set in stone.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
McIntosh goes for 5 individual golds at world championships with Los Angeles Olympics in sight
Summer McIntosh won three individual gold medals a year ago at the Olympics, the star in the Paris pool alongside France's Léon Marchand. Apparently unsatisfied with three, she'll go for five gold medals starting Sunday at the world swimming championships in Singapore. Call it a trial run for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The worlds is the highest profile swim meet since last year's Olympics, a showcase for newcomers as well veterans who hope to stick around until Los Angeles. McIntosh will be very busy during the eight days in the pool, packing her schedule with five individual events. She'll contend with prelims in some events, and she'll also add relays. 'This means 14 or 15 races she could swim in eight days, demanding races,' Canada's head coach Iain McDonald told The Associated Press. 'It's a very challenging schedule she's set for herself.' The 18-year-old Canadian set three world records in five days in June at the national trials. She broke her own 400-meter individual medley mark, dropping it to 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds, and set the 200 IM record (2:05.70) and the 400 freestyle record (3:54.18). She was also a mere half-second behind the 200 butterfly record, which has stood since 2009, and just off the 800 freestyle record set last month by American Katie Ledecky. 'She's such a versatile athlete, it's kind of tough to nail what her best events are,' McDonald said. 'She's pretty good right across the spectrum.' Opening day McIntosh will be the focus on Day 1 of the pool events in Singapore. She swims the 400 freestyle final, and comes back about 30 minutes later for a semifinal of the 200 IM. Despite holding the world record in the 400 free, she's never won gold in the event at the Olympics or worlds. This time she's ready, and credits coach Fred Vergnoux. 'I'm super pumped for the 400 freestyle and I'm really excited to see how I manage doing the double,' McIntosh told Canadian broadcaster the CBC. McIntosh said Vergnoux has boosted her endurance, pointing more to distance events. 'It's true that I haven't been able to do it on world stage yet,' she said of the 400. 'I think going into past big meets I haven't had the confidence in my training and my freestyle in general — technique-wise and endurance-wise — that I have now.' Ariarne Titmus was the gold medalist in Paris with silver for McIntosh, but the Australian swimmer is taking a year off. It's Titmus's record that McIntosh just broke. Ledecky, the bronze medalist in Paris, appears to be McIntosh's chief rival. McIntosh will also face Ledecky in the 800, which might be the only race where McIntosh is not favored. It's probably 50-50, and it might be the biggest race of the championships. Ledecky set the world record this year of 8:04.12, and McIntosh is right behind, having clocked 8:05.07. 'I think she loves it (the challenge),' Greg Meehan, the U.S. team director, said of Ledecky. 'There are always threats coming at you because you've set yourself to be the gold standard.' McIntosh dominates the two IM races, and should also be a favorite in the 200 butterfly. Ledecky's best race is the 1,500 where she holds the world record and also has the 23 top times in history in the event — and No. 25, too. McIntosh is not in the field here. McIntosh, who will swim this fall under Bob Bowman at the University of Texas at Austin, arrived on the scene aged 14 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finishing fourth in the 400 free. 'She's been such a strong performer through her entire career at such a young age,' McDonald said. 'But she always manages to surprise you, upping her game a little bit.' Attention on Yu Some of the attention in Singapore will be on 12-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi. Yu has qualified in the 200 and 400 IMs and the 200 butterfly and could face McIntosh in all three finals. Unbelievably, she could win a medal — at 12. Yu's time of 2:10.63 in the Chinese championships in May was the fastest by any 12 year old — female or male — in history. She's also swum 2:06.83 in the 200 fly and 4:35.53 in the 400 IM. Both of those times would have been good for fourth place in last year's Olympics. Astoundingly, Yu is 12 to 15 seconds faster than McIntosh was at age 12, depending on the event. That's roughly a half-lap of a 50-meter pool. 'There is always somebody coming up next,' McDonald said. ___ AP sports:
