Asked by the Salzburg ski racer Marcel Hirscher, who celebrated his 13th birthday on Saturday with the giant slalom in Aare (Sweden). in this season’s World Cup race. He set the record held by Hermann Maier and Ingemar Stenmark – success number 14 could follow in the slalom on Sunday.
Question: You said beforehand that you are no longer one hundred percent in the state where you want to grapple with the bear. There was nothing of tiredness to be seen today . . .
Marcel Hirscher: “In the first a lot has gone, in the second it was a bit meagre. But when it turns out that way, I’m already very happy. In the first one I was just about to drop out, I missed a small bump. Secondly, I have to say that it’s tough to enter a race that somehow starts from halfway. I don’t like it. The way you get in the barrel, you haven’t seen anything. But task set, task halfway mastered. I am very happy about another victory in the giant slalom.”
Question: 13 wins this season, how can you explain that after the ankle fracture?
Hirscher: “13 is madness. Not so bad for two disciplines. It’s a really unexpected season, it’s crazy. I didn’t know: is it an injury that will end your career? No. But is the season over? Maybe. The Olympics? Maybe. But I certainly thought I didn’t stand a chance on crystal balls. I often wonder why the season is the best of my career. But the motivation was very high. After the injury I felt like I was 18 again when I was the boy in the World Cup team who tried to push in every training, every swing. I draw the conclusion that I should take a long break.”
Question: How can you find new motivation for a new season?
Hirscher:”To ski as little as possible in summer. The less, the better the motivation in winter. We’ll do it the same as last year, but without injury. The passion is definitely still there. But like every year, when the season is over, you need your time, put on your surf shorts. Have a good time, biking, kayaking, hiking, climbing, doing whatever you want. And then you think about new plans. It’s hard to say now what these new plans are. But I still have to practice whether I will start next year in the World Cup or not. I want to be fit, I want to be an athlete for years to come.”
Question: On Sunday you will receive the big ball. How are you looking forward to this?
Hirscher: “A huge moment. I’m very happy, of course. I think we can also talk about the weather, because it is in any case intangible and inexplicable what is actually going on there. I don’t really check it myself. That’s gonna take years. “This record has held for at least seven years, that’s a very long time.”
Question: You already received a small ball today…
Hirscher: ” … the good thing is, if you can have so much experience, even with these things, then you know how it feels. There was the moment in Kranjska Gora the more beautiful than now because I knew I had made it. Now the emotion of creation is more or less gone.”