The Netherlands could end on top at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach in 2025 and the Winter Olympics in Milan a year later as retired Austrian skiing champion Marcel Hirscher announces his return to the sport as part of the Dutch team.

Hirscher, whose achievements include two gold Olympic gold medals and seven world championships in the slalom and giant slalom categories, said goodbye to competitive skiing five years ago at the age of 30.

The Austrian national, whose mother is Dutch and who speaks the language, thought a return “would be fun, nothing more”, he said on social media. “It’s all about the passion for skiing.”

Dutch alpine ski racer Maarten Meiners said the comeback was special in itself and all the more so because Hirscher chose to represent the Netherlands.

“Hirscher is the best ski racer of all time,” he told broadcaster NOS, adding that Hirscher had spent a lot of time on the slopes since 2019 testing his own equipment. “He had to show how fit and strong he was all the time. No need to worry about his shape. He is going to perform,” Meiners said.

According to Meiners, commercial interests could be behind the move.

“Sponsoring conditions in this country are not as strict. I had a say in where to put my sponsors’ logos on my suit. That is less easy in skiing countries like Austria and Switzerland where sport unions are more powerful. And Hirscher has his own business interests, so that may play a role,” he said.

News agency AP said the nation change allows Hirscher to compete on Van Deer skis — the brand he helped create with Red Bull, but which are not approved by the Austrian federation.