Austrian great Hirscher makes strong skiing comeback

Marcel Hirscher has made a successful comeback to skiing at the season-opening men's World Cup giant slalom in front of his home Austrian fans in Solden.

The 35-year-old great's comeback drew a record number of spectators to the traditional World Cup opening weekend and they watched their old hero, now competing for the Netherlands, the birthplace of his mother, finish 23rd overall.

Hirscher, wearing an orange-white race suit, had two consistent runs with no major mistakes until getting to the bottom part, where he lost considerable time.

"It was pretty good until midway through the steep, after that, I got too late on my race line and nearly slid off the course," Hirscher told Austrian TV after the opening run.

"It was cool, it has worked out so well. About two seconds behind, that was also the case in training, so I'm really happy."

Alexander Steen Olsen held on to his first-run advantage to lead a Norwegian sweep of the podium, while their compatriot, another comeback man, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who's now competing for Brazil, came home fourth.

Defending overall champion Marco Odermatt skied out in the opening run.

Holding a slim lead after the first run, Steen Olsen finished 0.64 seconds ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen and was 0.65 faster than Atle Lie McGrath.

All eyes were on Hirscher, who came out of retirement after five years. Although he finished 2.16 seconds behind Steen Olsen in 23rd position, the record eight-time overall champion, who only just qualified for the final run in 28th place, then posted the third-fastest time second time around.

Former slalom World Cup winner Pinheiro Braathen, who returned after one year off and a switch from the Norwegian to the Brazilian federation, started 41st and finished 0.90 behind in fourth.