Austrian ski legend Marcel Hirscher makes a comeback and now competes for the Netherlands

For the Austrians this feels like a great loss. The 35-year-old Hirscher’s figures are impressive. He is the most consistently performing skier ever: eight times in a row he has won the World Cup competition, the series of dozens of ski competitions per season on slopes all over the world. No other skier managed that so often. He also became world champion seven times, including three times in his specialty, slalom.

He also won Olympic gold twice. Hirscher needed a run-up for that. In 2010 in Vancouver, as a 20-year-old, he was still not one of the absolute world top. And four years later in Sochi he was 0.28 seconds too slow for gold in the slalom. In Pyeonchang in 2018 it was a success, even twice: Hirscher won the combination of downhill plus slalom and the giant slalom.

This lifted the pressure that the Austrian nation had placed on his shoulders. But the gold was not just for Austria, where he leads a fairly secluded life in Annaberg, a village in the Lammertal: “This one is also a bit for the Netherlands,” he told sports reporters in Dutch after winning his first Olympic title.

mother from The Hague

Hirscher’s mother Sylvia comes from The Hague. As a child he regularly went on holiday to the Netherlands, where he practiced ‘our’ national winter sport: skating. But his preference was skiing.

At an age when Dutch children learn to cycle, his father Ferdinand, a ski instructor, put him on two slats on the slopes. That eventually led to a career that lasted about twelve years. When he had won what there was to win, Hirscher thought it was a good thing at the age of 30. He wanted more time for his family.

But there will still be a sequel. The Austrian Ski Association reported on Wednesday morning that it had approved an application for Hirscher to switch associations: ‘Marcel has done great things for skiing and the Austrian Ski Association. In appreciation for this, and in the spirit of the international character of skiing, we as a board have unanimously approved his request to change associations.’

2025 World Cup

From now on, Hirscher can compete for the Dutch Ski Association (NSkiV). It remains to be seen how good he still is. According to Austrian media, his big goal is the 2025 World Cup in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, not far from his hometown. This summer he wants to score his first points in international competitions in New Zealand, where it will be winter, in an attempt to qualify.

In any case, the NSkiV hopes that Hirscher will take skiing in the Netherlands to a higher level. “We are delighted with Marcel’s choice and hope that this will be of great value for not only skiing, but all snow sports that fall under the Dutch Ski Association,” said technical director Wopke de Vegt.

Although the Netherlands flocks to ski resorts every winter, there are few top-level Dutch skiers. At the Olympic Games in 2022, a Dutch man and woman took part for the first time in seventy years. Maarten Meiners has now retired, and Adriana Jelinkova decided to change associations: the Czech-Dutch now plays for the Czech Republic again.

‘Just fun’

It is still unclear whether Hirscher will represent the Netherlands at the Olympic Games in 2026. “I especially want to have the opportunity to participate in competitions again, just because I enjoy it,” Hirscher says about his comeback on the NSkiV site.

It is also a welcome surprise for top sports country the Netherlands. Normally the Netherlands ‘exports’ winter sports enthusiasts, namely skaters. For example, Bart Veldkamp played for Belgium in the later phase of his career – adding the word ‘skating Belgian’ to the Dutch language.

In addition to Veldkamp, ​​there are or were also skating Canadians (Ted-Jan Bloemen), skating Swiss (Ronald Bosker) and skating Austrians (Marnix ten Kortenaar). Now an ‘imported ski Dutchman’ is coming in return.