Marcel Hirscher has officially announced that he will return to racing in January, marking the most concrete update yet in one of Alpine skiing’s most closely watched comeback stories. The 36-year-old released the news in a short but pointed Instagram post on Sunday, writing: “Progress flows. Precision grows. I’ll be back in January.”
The announcement comes three months after Hirscher first stepped back onto snow following a devastating ACL tear that abruptly ended his 2024–25 comeback season. Hirscher’s injury, sustained during Giant Slalom training in December 2024, sidelined him just as he attempted a surprise return to World Cup racing under the Dutch flag.
Hirscher, an eight-time overall World Cup season title winner, had taken his first careful turns on skis again in early September at the SnowWorld indoor ski center in Zoetermeer, Netherlands—his first time on snow in nine months. In an emotional Instagram reel at the time, he described the overwhelming feeling of clipping into ski boots again for the first time since the injury. “277 days since the ACL tear,” he reflected then. “You cannot imagine how insane that moment is where you put on your ski boots and it’s like your whole body reacts to it.”
For an athlete who built a career on precision, consistency, and almost superhuman edge control, the vulnerability of the rehabilitation process hit hard. Hirscher admitted that before this injury, he hadn’t truly understood what other athletes endure when returning from major knee surgeries. He described the experience as “humbling,” especially when surrounded by fellow rehab patients fighting their own uphill battles. “I was definitely at rock bottom nine months ago,” he said. “It’s a long way… I am not sure how much risk I am willing—or able—to give.”
Hirscher’s return to racing will again be under the Dutch flag, a decision he made ahead of the 2024–25 season to honor his mother’s heritage and take advantage of the new FIS wildcard system. Under the FIS wildcard rule introduced last season, Hirscher retains 17 unused wildcard starts carried over from his aborted comeback year. These entries give him the flexibility to choose when—and where—he reenters the circuit without relying on national quotas or FIS points.
What remains unclear is which January race will mark his official return. While the season opener in Sölden this October was always unrealistic, a mid-winter comeback allows significantly more time for strength building, gate training, and the psychological transition back into high-speed racing. What is certain is that Hirscher will miss the race at Levi, Finland, this weekend, as well as the next three Slalom races at Gurgl, Austria, in November, Val d’Isere, France, in December, and Alta Badia, Italy, also in December. The first January Slalom will be the Night Slalom at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, on January 7.
Hirscher has been careful not to promise too much. He openly acknowledges his uncertainty about whether he can—or should—push himself back to the limit that defined his decade-long dominance over the sport. Yet his January announcement signals a major step forward: a commitment to re-enter the start gate, even if the outcome remains unknown.
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