Marcel Hirscher resigns

When ski star Marcel Hirscher has something to announce, everyone comes. The hall at the Gusswerk in Salzburg was packed. That's something you have to achieve first. But the news that Marcel Hirscher had to announce to the assembled press on September 4, 2019, did contain a certain explosiveness.

"I'll make it short and sweet, it's not a big surprise anymore, it's today the day I will end my active career!"

he began his monologue and immediately continued explaining:

"I realize that I am at a point where it is necessary to decide, am I still willing to pay this price. You know the effort I've always put in. And I realized in the summer that I'm not behind it anymore and that I can't and don't want to put in that effort. And that's why it's a very smart decision to say, "That's it"!"

In addition, he continues, he has noticed that the summer is almost too short to regenerate completely. It is also not surprising, he continues, that after 12 years without interruption, without injury and without a break, he is also no longer able to do so. The battery no longer charges as quickly as it did when he was 18. Finding the right time to stop was always important to him, because he is healthy, has practically no aches and pains after 12 years of professional sport and can still play football with his young son, can still ride motocross, can still go to the mountains, and that was important to him. What he has achieved, he is proud of and that fills him with happiness. But in the end he is and remains a racer with heart and soul.

"I'm just a racer, I want to race, I want to look for hundredths of seconds, that's always been my passion and that's been the fascination of skiing for me. And if I find any way to get that in another way, I will take that chance."

One can be sure that the ski ace will not rest long and will look for his next challenges. Promoting young talent in ski racing is also very conceivable. But now it's time to give Marcel Hirscher his break for once and wait to see what he has to tell us next. I'm pretty sure we won't have to wait too long for that. With the departure of Marcel Hirscher, the alpine ski circus loses one of its greenest highlights. Filling the gap he leaves behind will hardly be possible, and not so quickly. He leaves the alpine ski circus as the world's best ski racer and Austria's best ski racer of all time and is now heading for a new future.

We wish you all the happiness in the world, dear Marcel!