GEPA pictures/Pro Shots/Shane Winsser

A new rule allows Marchel Hirscher to open doors to the World Cup when returning to ski racing after five years of retirement. FIS added a Wild Card option in the July 2024 revision of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup rules, which will ease the passage back to the World Cup for former world-class racers and guarantee a starting position right after the top 30.

The Basic Quota Rule

An interesting question regarding Hirscher’s return to racing has been whether he could lower his FIS points soon enough to start in the men’s World Cup opener in Sölden, Austria, on October 27.

During his media event on July 24, Hirscher described a return to the World Cup in October as “Mission Impossible,” seemingly unaware of the new FIS rule.

Hirscher currently holds the 693rd rank in giant slalom among male ski racers worldwide with 45.84 FIS points, and he is ranked 300th in slalom with 30.36 FIS points, according to the current FIS point list.

The basic quota rule for slalom or giant slalom World Cup events (Rules for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, article 3.2) requires a racer to have a maximum of 140 points on the valid FIS list in one of the five events (SL, GS, SG, DH, AC). In addition, for men’s slalom and giant slalom events, a racer must be ranked among the first 150 athletes on the valid FIS list in the discipline in question or within the first 30 on the World Cup starting list (WCSL) in SL, GS, SG, DH or AC.

Generally, ranking on the WCSL or the FIS list determines a competitor’s seeding and start order in a World Cup race.

The Wild Card Rule

According to the new article 3.2.1, “a Wild Card can be granted to athletes who have won either a World Cup Overall Globe, an Event Globe (DH, SG, GS or SL under the condition of a minimum of five (5) World Cup victories), Olympic Gold Medal (Individual) or World Championship Gold Medal (Individual).”

With a Wild Card, male and female racers still must follow the basic World Cup rule, article 3.2, but a male Wild Card racer does not need to rank in the top 150 to start in the World Cup. This addition enables Hirscher to enter the Sölden World Cup opener without improving his current FIS ranking.

The athletes must have retired for at least two years but a maximum of 10 years.

Furthermore, Wild Card athletes must meet the conditions for returning to competition under the FIS Anti-Doping Rules and WADA requirements.

The FIS will grant World Cup overall winners a Wild Card for all events, and World Cup event globe and Olympic and World Championship winners may receive a Wild Card for the respective event.

Starting Position

According to the new rule, a Wild Card holder may start with bib number 31 in their disciplines for a one-season maximum. This starting position will help Hirscher immensely in his first World Cup starts.

If one or more athletes enter a World Cup race based on earning 500 World Cup points or more, Wild Card athletes will start after the 500-point athletes.

Without a Wild Card, Hirscher would have initially had to work his way up among the top 150 racers on the FIS ranking list and then had to start towards the end of the World Cup field based on his FIS ranking.

As people on the hill know, race conditions often deteriorate during alpine ski races, even on the most well-prepared World Cup competition hills. Therefore, it is challenging and can take several seasons for the late starters to work their way up the result lists, the FIS ranking list and the WCSL. Racers face this challenge during competitions from the FIS level through the continental cups and into the World Cup.

FIS Races in New Zealand

Hirscher is flying to New Zealand on August 9. In addition to on-snow training and equipment testing, the eight-time winner of the World Cup overall globe plans to start in FIS races in Coronet Peak.

“We will see whether it is enough for Sölden,” Hirscher said on July 24, according to welovesnow.ch.

The Dutch-Austrian ski legend keeps his expectations low after the news that the Wild Card rule guarantees him World Cup entry and a good World Cup starting position:

“Everything is still very far away,” Hirscher says, according to Krone.at on July 28. “The Wild Card system is cool, but it doesn’t change much for me. First, I need to get in shape.”

Not for Braathen

The Wild Card rule will not apply to the 2023 World Cup slalom globe winner, Lucas Braathen. Braathen skied his last FIS licensed races in March 2023, so he has been away from competition for less than two years.

Braathen announced his retirement from ski racing and the Norwegian Ski Team in October 2023. Then, he announced his return to ski racing in March 2024, this time for his mother’s native Brazil.

The Norwegian Ski Federation allowed Braathen to keep the FIS points he earned while competing for Norway when switching nationality in the FIS system. Braathen is still well within the basic FIS ranking rules for World Cup participation.

New Opportunities

The FIS Wild Card rule creates new opportunities for World Cup racers in the future. For one, more retired athletes may return to the sport more easily if they change their mind after time away.

Another interesting angle: The best racers in the world considering parenthood could utilize the Wild Card option to take time off during pregnancy, followed by time with a newborn baby and toddler. Then, return to World Cup racing after two seasons or more. However, the Wild Card option is unavailable for lower-ranked World Cup athletes.

Maternity Leave Benefits

FIS has a maternity rule in place in the current FIS Points Rules (article 4.6.2). If a female FIS-licensed athlete becomes pregnant, the rule grants a protection status for her FIS points after FIS receives and confirms a medical certificate regarding pregnancy. The FIS point protection status is valid for a maximum of nine months after childbirth.

Supporting Female Athletes

Hence, both the Wild Card rule (which requires a non-active racer status and is only available for previous top racers) and the FIS Points rule (which requires an active racer status) might help the women’s World Cup ski racers stay active in the sport longer while simultaneously being able to start a family like their male counterparts often do.

As a next step, the FIS should consider a World Cup rule granting start positions upon return to the World Cup for female athletes who have given birth. Also, FIS could extend the points protection status, as nine months is often too short for some mothers or children.

Female athletes in various sports increasingly have chosen to return to competitions after becoming mothers, and many come back stronger. Austria’s Tamara Tippler has decided to return to the women’s World Cup speed events in 2024/25 after taking a season off due to pregnancy and the birth of her daughter Mia in September 2023. Just six months after childbirth, Tippler retested her skiing as a forerunner in the speed events at the 2024 World Cup Finals in Schladming, Austria, the site of the 2025 World Championships.

Another example is track and field athlete Amalie Iuel, who gave birth to her and former top alpine ski racer Aksel Lund Svindal’s son Storm, also in September 2023. About ten months after childbirth, Iuel competes for Norway in the ongoing Olympic Games in Paris, France, in the 400-meter hurdles and 4 x 400-meter relay.

Hirscher’s Passion

Currently, the FIS Wild Card addition achieves a timely goal: To give Hirscher a direct path into the upcoming World Cup season, undoubtedly bringing joy to the ski racing world.

During a July 24 media event, Hirscher stated that his return to ski racing is a passion project that he hopes will be memorable. He also shared why he chose to compete for the Netherlands rather than his former national team, Austria, as previously reported by Ski Racing Media.

Hirscher announced his return to international ski racing in late April this year.

Update: This article previously included background information regarding the creation of the Wild Card rule, based on a published article from another media source which follows alpine ski racing regularly. Some of that information turned out to be incorrect and has now been removed. We apologize for the misunderstanding.