Marcel Hirscher's return to the World Cup Finals continues to keep the skiing world in suspense, even a month after it was announced.

At 35 years old, the Salzburg skiing star will be racing on world-class ski slopes at race speed again starting next winter.

On the occasion of the “Swiss Ski Night” in Zurich, the Swiss who were so strong last season shared their view on the ÖSV legend's imminent return.

Respect and a flame of awe among the Swiss people

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For 31-year-old Gino Caviezel, the return of the long-time World Cup dominant represents a challenge – and Hirscher has certainly not lost any of his ambition: “He will definitely challenge us. It also means we have to stick to his ambitions.” Now, hopefully, it will be faster than him.”

Slalom giant Ramon Zennhauser has great confidence in Hirscher, but sees himself and his teammates bearing a certain responsibility: “Even though Hirscher has been away for five years, I have confidence that he will be at the top. But if he dominates the world like before “Then I think we'll all have to leave and ditch our skis.”

Technical specialist Loic Millard also takes the same opinion: “If he delivers top performance right away, we definitely know that we still have a lot of work to do.”

Odermatt: “It will be very exciting.”

Marc Rochat stresses that the Swiss have made significant progress in Hirscher's absence: “I'm looking forward to showing him the progress we've made. We didn't sleep and wait for him.”

“It's hard to say how strong he really is,” says Marco Odermatt, the current World Cup dominator. “But I assume he will quickly reach a good level.”

However, Odermatt does not believe Hirscher will return to the top of the world immediately. “Because of the starting number, he will definitely need some time until he can start in his usual position again and participate. But he knows how to win races and that will definitely benefit him. It will be very exciting.”

Loic Millard added: “I think he hasn't completely lost anything and is still training a lot.”

The eight-time World Cup winner's actual motivations still have the Swiss thinking twice: “Marcel says he's taking this step for fun. But to be honest, I'm not quite sure if it's just for that,” says Marc Rochat. .

From the national team to the C team: these guys start at ÖSV