Hermann Maier retires
Just a week before the start of the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season, one of the greatest legends of the sport surprisingly announced his decision to retire.
Double Olympic champion Hermann Maier, 37 in December, announced the end of his illustrious career in Vienna on Tuesday 13th October.
Maier, a four-time overall World Cup champion and a winner of 54 FIS World Cup competitions since February 1997, had returned to training on the glacier above Soelden last week and indicated he would return to racing at the end of November at Lake Louise, in time for the first speed events of the new season.
He then changed his mind, however: "I enjoyed free skiing the other day in Soelden and was happy that my body was back in shape after that long break. But afterwards, I found out that it was also a good time to retire, it was a tough yet spontaneous decision."
"Last Friday, I suddenly decided to quit as I wanted to retire in a good shape and relax a little. A week ago, I was not aware that this could happen so quickly, but the fact that I feel physically so great certainly pushed me towards that decision."
"Ski racing is a demanding activity and you need to be totally fit and ready to fully charge the slopes to really have fun practicing it," he also told afterwards to the press. "Last season I had some good results but I also felt that my body was sometimes tired and suffering."
Maier exploded onto the ski scene in February 1997, surprisingly beating all top-favorites in a super-G race at Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER). He became a world star a year later at the 1998 Games, clinching two gold medals only a few days after a horrendous crash. He was nicknamed ‘The Herminator' by his colleagues, the press and his numerous fans because of his determination and his reckless racing tactics.
He won two more gold medals at the 1999 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Vail/Beaver Creek, and kept on dominating the scene until 2001,winning a total of 13 races in a season. In March 2000, he captured his second overall World Cup title with a record of 2000 points.
Maier suffered a terrible motorbike accident in August 2001 and was lucky to survive it after a series of operations. Working his way back to the top, he celebrated an incredible comeback in 2003, winning the treacherous super-G race at Kitzbühel and a silver medal at the World Championships at St Moritz.
In 2004, the Austrian clinched another overall World Cup title, and in 2005 a fifth and last gold medal in giant slalom at Bormio (ITA). In November 2008 he unexpectedly won his last race at Lake Louise, in Canada, despite strong pains at his back, and finished 5th in February in downhill at the Val d'Isère 2009.
"I have reached much more that I thought in my great career, I'm really proud of what I was able to achieved, especially during my comeback years," Maier said.
The Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup tour has lost a true hero and a landmark, as well as a unique racer and a glamorous personality but Hermann Maier is now a happy man in peace with himself.
Contributed by Patrick Lang
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