It’s almost creepy: Marcel Hirscher races from victory to victory in this ski world cup season and makes the competition look old. The Austrian has won eight of ten technical races (slalom and giant slalom) – including the slalom in Wengen on Sunday, the race he has never been able to win in his successful career. It should be the fifth slalom victory in a row.
The season got off to a very bad start for the six-time overall World Cup winner. On the first snow training day, the 28-year-old suffered an ankle fracture. While the competition could prepare for the Olympic season, Hirscher had to fight for his comeback in the strength chamber. A circumstance, however, which turned out to be a stroke of luck.
Why?”Quite simply: Marcel and we as a team took the enormous pressure of success away from the injury. In recent years, the eerie expectations of the opening races in Sölden and Levi have always been the most stressful races for all of us. This season was different. Marcel was able to surprise again for a long time simply only once – and it could afford to go risk, where he drove the last years’ on security’, in order not to fail, explains a close confidant from the Hirscher team on the ÖOC homepage.
And the insider continues:”From this point of view, the injury – even if you should never call or see an injury like that – was a blessing,” because it is the enormous ease that Marcel has been displaying for weeks. He’s never had it like that in the past few years, and if he had it, he could never keep it for so long.”
While the competition is desperate for the new ease of the exceptional talent, the next milestones in his career are only a matter of time. The next goal: The red-white-red record set by Hermann Maier, who was 54 years old in his career. World Cup victories. The chances are good that Hirscher will soon break this record, as Kitzbühel (January 21st) and Schladming (January 23rd) are two slaloms away from the door, which he has already won twice.