Anyone who wants to return to the Ski World Cup after retirement will have better chances in the future. An update to the regulations stipulates that former athletes can apply for wildcards. To do so, the athletes must have won either the overall World Cup, the World Cup in a discipline or gold at the Olympic Games or World Championships. The athletes must also have been officially inactive for at least two, but no more than ten years.
Marcel Hirscher, among others, would benefit from this regulation. The 35-year-old announced his comeback in alpine skiing in April – but not for Austria. Instead, he will compete for the Netherlands, his mother’s country of birth. Hirscher meets all the requirements of the International Ski Federation FIS and could therefore start for a maximum of one season as the 31st runner in the first run in the respective discipline with a wildcard. However, the introduction of the wildcard has not yet been finally approved by the FIS Council.