23rd place in Sölden What Hirscher says after his World Cup comeback
He can still do it: Marcel Hirscher impresses on his return to the big ski stage and is satisfied with his performance: "It turned out much better than I thought."
Ski star Marcel Hirscher has made a strong World Cup comeback and finished 23rd in the season opener in Sölden, directly in the points. Victory in the giant slalom on the Rettenbachferner went to Norway's Alexander Steen Olsen.
Henrik Kristoffersen and Atle Lie McGrath completed the all-Norwegian podium. Dominator and top favorite Marco Odermatt surprisingly crashed in the first run and was eliminated. Loic Meillard also withdrew shortly before the start.
Hirscher: "Tomorrow I'll have such sore muscles that I won't know what to do"
Hirscher said that his return felt "mega cool". For the eight-time overall World Cup winner, it was his first race in more than five years. Every step and every turn of the Salzburg native was accompanied by cameras. Fans with red-white-red and orange flags cheered him on in the finish area. The technical specialist no longer rides for Austria, but for the Netherlands, his mother's home country - but he is still good and fast.
"I didn't think I would make it to the second run," said Hirscher to SRF after the race. "I had a lot of fun, that's really cool. It could have been that I was four seconds behind. That would have been okay too, but of course it's mega."
Not only the timing of his comeback, but also Hirscher's form had been the subject of wild speculation in the days before. With bib number 34, he finished 28th in the first run and then even improved in the final.
"It turned out much better than I thought," was Hirscher's personal analysis - and continued: "The training sessions weren't particularly good. It's been five years since my last ski race. It's brilliant that it's still possible. Tomorrow I'll have such sore muscles that I won't even know what to do."
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