# Hermann Maier

Hermann Maier (born 7 December 1972) is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Nicknamed the "Herminator", Maier ranks among the greatest alpine ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup titles (1998, 2000, 2001, 2004), two Olympic gold medals (both in 1998), and three World Championship titles (1999: 2, and 2005). His 54 World Cup race victories – 24 super-G, 15 downhills, 14 giant slaloms, and 1 combined – rank third on the men's all-time list behind Ingemar Stenmark's 86 victories and Marcel Hirscher's 67 victories. Until 2023 he held the record for the most points in one season by a male alpine skier, with 2000 points from the 2000 season. From 2000–2013 he also held the title of most points in one season by any alpine skier, until Tina Maze scored 2414 points in the 2013 season.

## Early years

Maier did not initially enjoy much success in ski racing. As a 15-year-old at the Schladming ski academy, he was sent home after being told he would not succeed because of his slight build, caused by growth impairments. He returned home to his hometown of Flachau and his father's ski school, which remains Maier's home. He took up work as a bricklayer in the summer and a ski instructor in the winter.
Participating in local races, Maier became a multiple regional champion in Salzburg and Tyrol, but still was not able to gain a spot in the strong Austrian World Cup ski team. Putting that behind him, his outstanding talent was recognized for the first time by Austrian coaches on 6 January 1996, when he was timed with the 12th fastest time in a World Cup giant slalom in Flachau, although only starting as a forerunner, not participating in the actual competition. This would become the starting point of his international career. Through his result in Flachau he gained the attention of the ÖSV (Austrian Ski Federation) and only two days later he started in his first Europa Cup race in Les Arcs and finished in second place. He won his next race at the same location the day after. Although the Europa Cup season started in mid December and he joined late, so he wasn't starting in all races, he won the overall Europa Cup title, as well as the season title in giant slalom.

## Ski career

Maier made his World Cup debut at age 23 on 10 February 1996, and finished 26th in the giant slalom at Hinterstoder, Austria. A year later in February 1997, he won his first World Cup event – a super-G race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He quickly established himself as an explosive and dynamic racer, well known for his strength, willingness to take risks, and strong work ethic.
Maier soon dominated alpine ski racing, winning the gold medal in the giant slalom and super-G at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, only a few days after a dramatic crash in the downhill race where he flew spectacularly off the sunlit course, landed partially on his head, tumbled head over heels several times, and crashed through two layers of B-netting. Despite the horrible look of the crash, Maier was able to walk out under his own power. That put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine and made him a well known sportsman around the globe. Maier won the overall World Cup title in 1998, as well as the super-G and giant slalom season titles, and placed second in the downhill standings.
In 2000 he won the overall World Cup title, as well as the season titles in downhill, super-G, and giant slalom. He had a dominating performance, setting the then most point garnered by an alpine skier, of 2000 points. This record stood until Tina Maze scored 2,414 points in 2013.
He won the overall World Cup title in 2001, as well as that season's titles in downhill, super-G, and giant slalom. He won 13 World Cup races, but settled for two medals (silver and bronze) in the speed events at the 2001 World Championships in St. Anton. He was the reigning world champion in both events, won in 1999 at Beaver Creek, Colorado.
His racing career nearly ended following a near-fatal motorcycle accident on August 24, 2001; he collided with a car on his way home from a summer training session in Austria. Doctors nearly amputated his lower right leg, but instead Maier underwent massive reconstructive surgery. Most believed his racing career was over, and he had to sit out the 2002 season, missing the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He returned to international competition in January 2003 in Adelboden, Switzerland, and two weeks later won a super-G title in the skiing-mecca of Kitzbühel, Austria.
In 2004, his first full season back, he reclaimed both the super-G and overall titles — the latter being his fourth — and received the Laureus World Sports Award for the "Comeback of the Year".
Reflecting his apparently indestructible nature, he is sometimes jocularly known as "The Herminator." After his 1998 Olympic gold medals in Nagano he also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC – together with Austrian-born actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is known worldwide as "The Terminator".
In 2004, Maier wrote an autobiography with his friend and former publicity agent, Knut Okresek. The book, Hermann Maier: Das Rennen Meines Lebens (in German), dealt mainly with his recovery from the 2001 motorcycle accident. In 2005, VeloPress, a Boulder, Colorado-based publisher affiliated with Ski Racing magazine, acquired the worldwide English language rights to the book, which was published in time for the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, as Hermann Maier: The Race of My Life.
In October 2005, he won the opening giant slalom in Sölden to amass 51 victories in the World Cup. This placed him fifth on the career victory list, behind Ingemar Stenmark, Lindsey Vonn, Annemarie Moser-Pröll, and Vreni Schneider.
On 20 June 2007, Maier announced he was switching to Head as his equipment sponsor, ending his long affiliation with Atomic. Also switching from Atomic to Head at this time were champions Bode Miller of the U.S. and Didier Cuche of Switzerland.
On 18 January 2008, Maier finished second in the Kitzbühel's super-G, behind Marco Büchel and in front of Didier Cuche for a total podium age of 104 years. His career results in the super-G races at Kitzbühel are the best in history (7 races: 5 wins and 2 second places). The following day, Maier finished fifth in the downhill. These were his best results of the 2008 season.
Maier won the first super-G of the 2009 season, held in Lake Louise, for his 24th super-G win. It was his 54th World Cup victory, but the first in nearly three years, and came a week before his 36th birthday. It was Maier's fourth victory in the super-G at Lake Louise, the last coming five years earlier.
Maier announced his retirement in 2009 after thirteen years of competing in the World Cup circuit.

## World Cup results
### Season titles

* 14 total: 4 overall, 2 downhill, 5 super-G, 3 giant slalom
| Season | Discipline |
| 1998 | Overall |
| 1998 | Super-G |
| 1998 | Giant slalom |
| 1999 | Super-G |
| 2000 | Overall |
| 2000 | Downhill |
| 2000 | Super-G |
| 2000 | Giant slalom |
| 2001 | Overall |
| 2001 | Downhill |
| 2001 | Super-G |
| 2001 | Giant slalom |
| 2004 | Overall |
| 2004 | Super-G |

### Season standings

| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant slalom | Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
| 1996 | 23 | 106 | — | 52 | 34 | — | — |
| 1997 | 24 | 21 | — | 15 | 4 | — | — |
| 1998 | 25 | 1 | 39 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 1999 | 26 | 3 | — | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 2000 | 27 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2001 | 28 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 2002 | 29 | injured in August 2001 in a motorcycle accident, out for entire season | injured in August 2001 in a motorcycle accident, out for entire season | injured in August 2001 in a motorcycle accident, out for entire season | injured in August 2001 in a motorcycle accident, out for entire season | injured in August 2001 in a motorcycle accident, out for entire season | injured in August 2001 in a motorcycle accident, out for entire season |
| 2003 | 30 | 45 | — | — | 19 | 25 | — |
| 2004 | 31 | 1 | — | 17 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 2005 | 32 | 3 | — | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 2006 | 33 | 6 | — | 8 | 2 | 7 | 42 |
| 2007 | 34 | 19 | — | 16 | 6 | 18 | — |
| 2008 | 35 | 21 | — | 30 | 10 | 16 | — |
| 2009 | 36 | 26 | — | — | 4 | 21 | — |

### Race victories

* 54 wins: 15 downhill, 24 super-G, 14 giant slalom, 1 combined
* 96 podiums: 25 DH, 38 SG, 28 GS, 4 K, 1 parallel slalom
| Downhill 15 wins 25 podiums Season Date Location 199829 Dec 1997Bormio, Italy 16 Jan 1998Wengen, Switzerland 199929 Dec 1998Bormio, Italy 200027 Nov 1999Beaver Creek, USA 8 Jan 2000Chamonix, France 29 Jan 2000Garmisch, Germany 20012 Dec 2000Beaver Creek, USA 9 Dec 2000Val d'Isère, France 20 Jan 2001Kitzbühel, Austria 2 Mar 2001Kvitfjell, Norway 8 Mar 2001Åre, Sweden 20046 Dec 2003Beaver Creek, USA 14 Feb 2004St. Anton, Austria 20055 Mar 2005Kvitfjell, Norway 200628 Jan 2006Garmisch, Germany Giant slalom 14 wins 28 podiums Season Date Location 199825 Nov 1997Park City, USA 6 Jan 1998Saalbach, Austria 13 Jan 1998Adelboden, Switzerland 199925 Oct 1998Sölden, Austria 12 Jan 1999Adelboden, Switzerland 200031 Oct 1999Tignes, France 24 Nov 1999Beaver Creek, USA 5 Feb 2000Todtnau, Germany 200129 Oct 2000Sölden, Austria 10 Dec 2000Val d'Isère, France 9 Jan 2001Adelboden, Switzerland 15 Feb 2001Shiga Kōgen, Japan 10 Mar 2001Åre, Sweden 200623 Oct 2005Sölden, Austria | Super-G 24 wins 38 podiums Season Date Location 199723 Feb 1997Garmisch, Germany 19986 Dec 1997Beaver Creek, USA 10 Jan 1998Schladming, Austria 11 Jan 1998 1 Feb 1998Garmisch, Germany 199913 Dec 1998Val d'Isère, France 21 Dec 1998Innsbruck, Austria 9 Jan 1999Schladming, Austria 7 Mar 1999Kvitfjell, Norway 200028 Nov 1999Beaver Creek, USA 5 Dec 1999Lake Louise, Canada 21 Jan 2000Kitzbühel, Austria 16 Mar 2000Bormio, Italy 200126 Nov 2000Lake Louise, Canada 19 Jan 2001Kitzbühel, Austria 4 Mar 2001Kvitfjell, Norway 200327 Jan 2003Kitzbühel, Austria 200430 Nov 2003Lake Louise 1 Feb 2004Garmisch, Germany 11 Mar 2004Sestriere, Italy 200524 Jan 2005Kitzbühel, Austria 6 Mar 2005Kvitfjell, Norway 200620 Jan 2006Kitzbühel, Austria 200930 Nov 2008Lake Louise, Canada Combined 1 win 4 podiums Season Date Location 199818 Jan 1998Veysonnaz, Switzerland |

## World Championship results

| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant  Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
| 1999 | 26 | — | DNF2 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 2001 | 28 | — | 4 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 2003 | 30 | — | — | 2 | 8 | — |
| 2005 | 32 | — | 1 | 4 | 17 | — |
| 2007 | 34 | — | 21 | 7 | 13 | — |
| 2009 | 36 | — | — | 18 | 6 | — |

## Olympic results

| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant  Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
| 1998 | 25 | — | 1 | 1 | DNF | — |
| 2006 | 33 | — | 3 | 2 | 6 | — |

## Besides skiing

Maier also won an all-around sports competition, the 2001 edition of the American Superstars competition and he frequently acts in TV adverts for his sponsor bank Raiffeisen. His brother, Alexander Maier, also represented Austria at the Winter Olympics. Maier rode the prologue of the 2003 Tour de France ahead of the main field, completing the 6.5 km individual time trial in 8 minutes 44 seconds, compared to 7 minutes 26 seconds for stage winner Bradley McGee and 8 minutes 26 seconds for the last cyclist.

## Video

* YouTube.com – Hahnenkamm (full course) – 9th place – 24 Jan 2004
* YouTube.com – 1998 Olympics – Nagano downhill (crash) & giant slalom (2nd run) – gold medal