Maier, Hermann

Notable Sports Figures

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Hermann Maier

1972-

Austrian skier

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Austrian Alpine skier Hermann Maier burst from obscurity at the

relatively old age of 25 to win three World Cup titles and two
Olympic gold medals in 1998, despite a death-defying fall in an
Olympic downhill race that season. He dominating the skiing world
for the next three seasons, until a severe motorcycle accident in the
summer of 2001 prevented him from competing during the 2001-02
season.

A Difficult Course
Maier, the older of his father Hermann Maier Sr.'s two children, first
strapped on skis at age three. "Two days later he was off riding the
lift by himself," the elder Maier, the owner of a skiing school,
recalled to Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated. Skiing was a common
passion in the Maiers' hometown of Flachau, Austria: The town had
four other skiing schools, in addition to the Maiers', for a mere 2,500
inhabitants.
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Maier was always recognized as a good skier, but Austria is full of

good skiers. Although he was accepted to the Austrian national ski
academy at the age of 15, after a year there he failed to stand out
as a potentially great skier and he was asked to leave. Undeterred,
he returned to Flachau, where he worked as a bricklayer in the
summer. In the winters he taught skiing at his father's ski school for
five hours a day and practiced his own skiing the rest of the time.

He soon established himself as the local champion in slalom and

giant slalom, and in the spring of 1995 the president of his regional
ski federation, Alex Reiner, helped to get him the opportunity to ski
in the Austrian national championships. Maier finished eighteenth.
Encouraged by this result, Maier quit his bricklaying job late in 1995
and started training full time again, hoping

To be able to qualify for the Europa Cup circuit, one step below the
top World Cup circuit.

Reiner arranged another tremendous opportunity for Maier in

January 1996. A World Cup giant slalom event was being held in
Flachau. It is customary for a forerunner, a noncompeting skier, to
ski the course before the competitors go down, and Reiner arranged
for Maier to do this. Had Maier actually been a competitor, his time
on the course would have placed him seventh after the first run-only
a second behind then-champion Alberto Tomba -and eleventh after
the second run. After those performances, he was offered a spot in
the Austrian national program. He skied on the Europa Cup circuit
for a few months and won the overall Europa Cup title. By the end
of the season he had been promoted to the World Cup team.
Success at Last
Maier skied in only three World Cup races in the 1995-96 season,
but he did manage to finish eleventh in one of them. The next
season he broke his wrist and missed part of the season, but he still
finished in the top five at four races. Along the way, many people
took notice of Maier's style of skiing, which was considerably more
aggressive than that of most top racers. Most skiers took wide,
gliding lines on their curves, covering more distance but maintaining
speed that would have been lost had they carved more and hewed
closer to the gates. Maier, on the other hand, had "the ability to
glide while maintaining a tight line, which was always assumed to
be impossible," his coach Werner Margreiter told Layden. "It's a
very exciting thing to see."

In the 1997-98 season everything came together for Maier. He won

three World Cup titles that season, the giant slalom and the super
giant slalom (super G) as well as the overall. He also won two gold
medals at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, in the same two
events. He might possibly have won another medal in the downhill,
the first event he skied in in Nagano, as well, had he not had a
spectacular crash during that event. On a particularly steep curve
near the top of the course Maier lost control at around 65 miles per
hour, went airborne, and cartwheeled through two snow fences. He
landed in soft snow, walked away with only a dislocated shoulder
and a sprained knee, and won the gold medal in the super G only
three days later.

The video of Maier's crash was shown repeatedly around the world
over the next few days, much to Maier's chagrin. "If you ask me," he
told Hampton Sides of Outside Online magazine, "I would prefer to
be famous for winning two gold medals in Nagano rather than for
my screwup."
A Devastating Accident
Maier went on to win nine World Cup titles in the next three
seasons. In 2000 he accomplished the rare feat of winning four
World Cup titles-downhill, giant slalom, super G, and overall-in one
year, and he repeated this accomplishment in 2001. That year he
also tied famed Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark 's record of 13
wins in World Cup races in a single season. He was "the
Herminator," unstoppable. Then a horrible accident threatened to
end his career, and possibly his life.

Chronology
1972 Born December 7 in Altenmarkt, Austria, to Hermann and Gertraud Maier
1988 Begins attending Austrian national ski academy
1989 Leaves ski academy and begins studying to be a bricklayer
1993- Becomes Salzburg champion in super G, giant slalom, and slalom; Tyrolean champion
95 in giant slalom; and Carinthian champion in slalom
1996 Earns his first World Cup points February 3
1997 Wins first World Cup race, in Garmisch, Germany, February 23
2001 Almost loses right leg in a motorcycle accident

Maier was riding his motorcycle in Radstadt, Austria, on August 24,

2001, when he was hit by a car and thrown into a ditch. He suffered
severe injuries in both legs, and doctors considered amputating his
right leg. Ultimately the leg was saved, but Maier was in no shape to
compete in the 2001-02 season. He first strapped on skis again that
December. In the summer of 2002 Maier traveled to Chile to
practice for his comeback, but he reinjured his leg. Finally, on
January 14, 2003, Maier raced in his first World Cup event since the
accident. He finished a disappointing thirty-first in the first run of this
giant slalom event, missing the cutoff to compete in the second run
by five-hundredths of a second, but he vowed to keep trying. "I have
to admit I was expecting to do a bit better," Maier said after the
race, Erica Bulman of the Associated Press reported. "But in reality,
it's a victory for me just to be back racing."

Awards and Accomplishments

1996 Europa Cup
1998 Olympic super G and giant slalom
1998, 2000-01 Giant slalom World Cup
1998-2001 Super G World Cup
1998, 2000-01 World Cup overall champion
2000-01 Downhill World Cup