Marcel Hirscher: The surprising confession of a ski hero!

Marcel Hirscher, the living legend of Austrian ski racing, gave intimate insights into his career and resignation in an exclusive ORF documentary. The 35-year-old ex-Skistar confessed that his first career ended due to complete exhaustion: "I was mentally and physically simply burned out," said Hirscher in the program "Dok 1: Marcel". Despite numerous successes, he was not aware of the full extent of his achievements for a long time. "Cool what I achieved there ..." - It was only after a long break could Hirscher be able to reflect on his achievements and truly appreciate what he did. This time of inner contemplation he needed was decisive for his comeback.

After more than two years of break, Hirscher returned to professional sports in October 2024 and achieved a promising performance with the third best time in the second round at the World Cup start in Sölden. But the cheers were short: in a very short time he had to deal hard with setbacks at the slalom in Levi and Gurgl, which were accompanied by criticism from all directions, including his own. This happened before he was seriously injured in training and tore the cruciate ligament. The ORF documentation now gives deeper insights into why Hirscher took the pressure of the competition and whether he can really live without the public's attention.

A look behind the scenes

In the ORF program, Lisa Gadenstätter asks what drives the exceptional athlete to return after such a long absence and with what pressure he deals with. Hirscher himself describes the crucial moment when he realized: "I can no longer." In this exciting documentary, the image that the public has so far had been broken open; It not only shows the successful alpine, but above all the people behind the athlete mask. With this openness, which became clear during the interview, the audience is given the opportunity to see Hirscher in a new light and to understand which psychological challenges are associated with his sporting heritage, such as krone.at and ots.at