“In a way, I was the serf of others”: Marcel Hirscher's dramatic reckoning with skiing
Created: 06/15/2022, 16:41
By: Marius Epp
Marcel Hirscher reflects on his skiing career.
© David Geieregger/imago
Three years after the end of his career, Marcel Hirscher looks back on his active days as a skier.
He leaves no good hair on the ski circus.
Salzburg - Marcel Hirscher is one of the greats of winter sports - the Austrian has dominated the technical disciplines in alpine skiing for years at will.
Three years ago he ended his career at the age of 30 at the absolute peak.
In an interview with the
Red Bulletin
, it now becomes clear why he gave up his passion at a supposedly younger age.
He sharply criticizes the conditions in skiing.
“As a skier you are sold.
That does something to you.
I was in a way the bondage of others,” he recalls.
Marcel Hirscher on skiing career: "It's totally unimaginable how I endured it"
Looking back, he thinks it's "completely unimaginable how I endured it."
He had “absolutely approached the pain limit of the system”.
He denounces that the word of the athletes in the ski circuit has too little weight.
"The team I was traveling with was assigned to me."
Video: Marcel Hirscher on his resignation
As Austria's absolute skiing idol, he was also under pressure from the entire nation during important races - that also prompted him to resign, as he explained in earlier interviews.
When asked by a reporter if being a ski pro was his dream job, he replied, "No.
It was tough.
That pressure was too much if I'm being honest.
I often went beyond my limits and sometimes didn't even know how I did it."
Marcel Hirscher founded his own ski brand and now rides motocross
Hirscher predicts that things will change in the future.
"I'm convinced that I'll still see that you can't deal with athletes like I did in my day.
The word 'self' will clearly come to the fore.”
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The 33-year-old stayed in skiing in a different form: he founded his own ski brand “Van Deer”.
He was able to win over his former rival Henrik Kristoffersen for a cooperation.
He hasn't lost his sporting ambition: Hirscher discovered motocross for himself and took part in the toughest enduro race in the world in Romania last summer.
(epp)
