Two weeks before the start of the season, skiing legend Hermann Maier comments on Marcel Hirscher's comeback and explains why he believes the returnee will be back competing for World Cup victories right away.
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- The new World Cup season kicks off in two weeks' time with the giant slaloms in Sölden. After a five-year break, returnee Marcel Hirscher will also be back at the start.
- Hermann Maier, himself a 54-time World Cup winner, has high hopes for his compatriot and even believes that Ingemar Stenmark's record could be in danger.
- However, Maier would not have liked the huge interest surrounding Hirscher's comeback when he was active: "I think the whole thing is annoying for some people."
Hermann Maier is a two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion and has won 54 World Cup victories in his career. The Austrian is only surpassed by the Swede and 86-time winner Ingemar Stenmark and compatriot Marcel Hirscher. Hirscher stands at 67 World Cup victories before his return.
For Maier, however, it is clear that there are more triumphs to come for the 35-year-old. "For me, he is capable of winning from a standing start. He will be one of the winning skiers from the very first race," Maier tells the "Kurier" newspaper.
And: "If he makes his comeback, as he calls it, a few years longer, then the Stenmark record of 86 World Cup victories is also possible." However, Hirscher is still 19 victories short of this.
"He now knows exactly where he's buzzing around"
Hirscher himself has recently tempered expectations and says that he is still four seconds short of the top 15. "Nobody is taking that away from him," replies Maier and explains his high expectations: "He didn't suddenly start skiing again, he was always at it. He has developed as a skier, has been out in the terrain a lot and has also been compared with Henrik Kristoffersen, Alexis Pinturault and a few others. In truth, he now knows exactly where he is."
Regardless of Hirscher's condition, his comeback is dominating the headlines even before the first race of the season. Maier wouldn't have liked that at all in his day. "I think the whole thing is annoying some people," says the 51-year-old. "If I was Manuel Feller and had to answer questions about Hirscher as the shot winner and best slalom racer in the world, it would get on my nerves."
