Ski Alpin: Hirscher struggles with material change-over

ÖSV superstar Marcel Hirscher travelled to Beaver Creek on Monday with a feeling of uncertainty:”One week before the first giant slalom of the season, the question marks that accompany us on the piste are huge! Not as far as my ankle is concerned,”the world champion on Sunday wrote on his blog at redbull. com that his left foot is “in keeping with the circumstances”.

“Questions rather arise with regard to the first RTL endurance test. There, the three months of training lag is painfully painful,”Hirscher explained that skiing on the new giant slalom material is “something completely new”.”The giant slalom upswing, which I have to get used to now, is very close to what we did five years ago before the last material change. To get the perfect feeling here again takes a few kilometres of practice, which I simply lack.”

Through the training sessions in recent weeks, he had managed to “gather good feedback and at least close the enormous training gap a little. Nevertheless, it’s clear that it will be a while before we get to where I want to go with my team in the giant slalom in terms of set-up, feel and swing. The six days of skiing I’ve collected so far on the new equipment aren’t enough for that…”

Above all,”my estimation on the new skis leaves a lot to be desired, and the one ominous second that I just don’t have at the moment, we still have to find,”said Hirscher, who hopes that his team will manage to “make a good jump sooner or later” with the necessary dedication and the corresponding fiddling effort (…).

For Beaver Creek, the Salzburg-based rider has scheduled three days of training and a few material tests before the first giant slalom of the Olympic season is scheduled for Sunday:”By then – we hope – we have found one or the other that will allow us to compete at a top level in the first RTL race,”emphasized the 28-year-old.

Hirscher also expressed his recovery wishes to his Bavarian friend Felix Neureuther:”After his furious debut in Levi, having to finish the season with a torn cruciate ligament before the second race is extremely bitter and a pity. Too bad for him, the sport and also for me. I hope he’ll put this setback away quickly and well.”