Marcel Hirscher and his Marker plate binding...

The Austrian star won Sölden by a large margin and had Ligety not hit a rock, he still wouldn't have been able to beat him. So after the dust settled, the ski press and a few industry insiders began suggesting that Hirscher had indeed switched from his Atomic bindings to Marker and that the different plate might have worked some magic on his two GS runs.

Skiing is 80% mental and the switch might have worked as a placebo or it perhaps kept Marcel's skis steady on an otherwise bumpy course. We'll never know quite for sure unless some serious tests are conducted and if Ligety also switches from his Tyrolia to the “magic” Marker plate.

Without some hard evidence, every comment will remain pure speculation!