BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) — It will be an unforgettable experience when Swiss skier Niels Hintermann makes his 101st World Cup appearance in the downhill race on Thursday — the first since he was declared cancer-free.
The 30-year-old was diagnosed with lymph node cancer in October 2024. He has undergone two cycles of chemotherapy and will not start snow training again until August.
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At the moment, winning is not the most important thing. His finish time doesn’t even include the upcoming Winter Olympics in Cortina, Milan. His only focus now is finding his rhythm again, playing his first game in more than 21 months. It was a long and difficult road back to where he started, including days when he barely had enough strength to get out of bed.
“Is this a successful season for me? I’ve achieved it because I can be here again,” Hintermann said. He finished 14th in Wednesday’s downhill session, 1.49 seconds behind Canada’s Cameron Alexander’s best time. “It’s great to be back here.”
Hintermann last competed in a World Cup on February 18, 2024, when he finished 48th in the super-G in Kovefjell, Norway. While training for the next season in South America in September 2024, his strength and conditioning coach noticed a knot around his neck and another behind his collarbone.
“He was like, ‘Hey, check it out,'” recalled Hinterman, who won three World Cup races in his career. “I had no signs. So (going to the doctor) was really just a test to see, ‘Hey, there’s nothing,’ as opposed to a test, ‘Hey, we’re looking for something.'”
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Speaking to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) before returning to Beaver Creek, Hinterman described how challenging the first few days after receiving his diagnosis were.
“The only thing I knew about cancer was what was shown in Hollywood movies,” he said in the FIS video. “My first meeting with the oncologist was a relief… this is treatable and the chances of recovery are very high.”
Hintman announced on social media in February that he was cancer-free. He said he will continue to check in with his oncologist every three months for the next year.
One of the things Hintermann misses on the track is the camaraderie. After his first practice on Tuesday, several racers stopped by to chat with him.
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“It’s great to see him here,” said Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who returned to World Cup racing at Colorado’s Copper Mountain on Thanksgiving after being seriously injured in a horrific downhill accident in January 2024. “It’s great to have people recovering from disaster.”
Hintermann’s teammate Marco Odermatt agrees.
“It’s great that he managed to do it all back,” said Odermatt, the four-time defending men’s overall World Cup champion. “He’s feeling good and ready to compete. We’re excited to see him compete.”
Hinterman’s plan this weekend at Beaver Creek is to compete in the downhill and skip the super-G. As the pace picked up, he also kept his expectations modest. His best finish at Beaver Creek was seventh in the 2021 downhill race.
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“There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs this year,” he said. “There will be good sections and there will be good turns. Maybe the whole run will be amazing. But the consistency that I had before, I’m not there yet. I’m not at the same confidence level.”
Hintermann competed in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, finishing 16th in the downhill event. Hintermann said the Milan-Cortina Olympics are “not on my agenda” at the moment. “I’m just kind of getting back into rhythm – not just this week but the whole season. Then we’ll have to see.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a dream come true. There’s no doubt about it.”
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
