Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher has had an amazing career – he is a winner of eight consecutive World Cup titles and won 11 medals at the Alpine Skiing World Championships – 7 of them being gold. Not to mention his Olympic success – Hirscher won a silver medal in slalom at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two gold medals in the combined and giant slalom at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
With such an immense amount of achievements and Hirscher’s dominance in both the slalom and giant slalom, many consider him to be one of the best alpine skiers in history.
However, the 30 year old skier is now contemplating retirement.
Hirscher’s priorities have changed after marrying wife Laura and having his first child in 2018. The Austrian skier spoke with CNN saying, “Ski racing is not the most important thing anymore”.
While he hasn’t made his final decision yet, Hirscher says this is the one of the toughest decisions of his life. “it’s hard because I’m not saying, ‘OK, I’m going to jump into a new job,’ I’m going to end a part of my life which has been today, my life.”
“If you have done this for 10 years with this intensity, with tears, sweat, success and suffering, all the ups and downs. It’s not easy to say ‘Ok, I’m done with it. “
After the epic racing events in Soldeu, Hirscher admitted he was glad the ski season was over – but that now wasn’t the right time to make a definitive decision about his future.
“Today is the wrong day for this question,” he said. “At the moment I have no motivation. But it can change in one or two weeks.
“I don’t want to stop ski racing by saying I’m not anymore in the top 15 and now I have to stop. I want to stop because I’ve made the decision that I have no fun anymore or I’m tired of ski racing.”
“It’s more important he’s doing good and everything with the family is good, then comes ski racing,” he said.
Whether he ends up retiring or not, Hirscher will always be considered by many as one of the best skiers of their generation.
What are your thoughts on his possible retirement? Let us know in the comments!
For more news on skiing and sports, stay tuned to The Sprongo Blog.