In the season of 2006/2007, Herman Maier did not win a World Cup race for the first time since 1998. Second-most successful skier in the history of the World Cup (after Ingemar Stenmark). So far, Maier has won a total of 53 World Cup races (23 super-G, 15 downhill, 14 giant slaloms and one combination) and became first, second or third for an impressive 93 times. Omni-present in Austrian media andĪdvertisements, his sponsors and contractors made him a wealthy man. The hype around Maier as a person peaked for the second time after 1999. In 2004, he was awarded the "Laureus World Sports Award"įor the "Comeback of the Year". Several more followed and in 2003, Hermann Maier became In January of 2003, heĪchieved his first World Cup victory after the accident in Only months after the terrible accident and in 2002, he returned to attend World Cup races. To everybody′s surprise, Maier started to train again German - not a very popular German, though…ĭuring those days, the media and the general public was wondering whether Maier would be able to Of all nationalities, the driver of the overtaken cars had to be The fact that a professional skier should rather avoid dangerous sports outside of his job didn′t impress anyone in Austria, nor that the accident had been Maier's fault (as a court decided later on). Surgeons struggled for seven hours before they could save his Maier′s legs. Downfall and Comeback to SkiingĪt the peak of his career, Herman Maier overtook a German car at a crossing with his He became over-all world champion in 1999/2000 as well as 2000/2001. In this year, World Cup races in whichĪustrians won the top four or five positions were not unusual, but the Herminator took the lead in both the races and popularity. He broke Franz Klammer′s record ofĢ7 World Cup victories and overshadowed a National Skiing Team that was the strongest that Austria had ever seen. In the season ofġ999, Maier won the World Cup for downhill, super-g and giant slalom. Indeed, the Herminator was unharmed and went off to win slalom and giant slalom. and several seconds - before he hit the slope again), he responded: "If I survive this, I′ll be immortal!" When Maier was asked what he had thought during the fall (he shot over the ground over many metres He earned his nickname with a terrible fall at a downhill raceĭuring the Olympic Games in Nagano, featuring on all major TV stations worldwide. Unbeatable and a silly name: "Herminator", a reference to the unbreakable Terminator played by his fellow Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger. The following year was the year of Hermann Maier: He won the World Cup, a reputation for being Salzburg won a few races including some of the World Cup series. A change was eventually nearing inġ996, when 24-year-old Hermann Maier from Flachau in Silly nickname such as "Blitz of Kitz", "Kaiser" or "King of Mount Arlberg". In short: There was no Austrian skier worth a Karl Schranz or the mentioned Franz Klammer. However, for several years it lacked somebody worth lining up with legends like After Franz Klammer′s shape slowly withered in the mid-1980ies, theĪustrian national skiing team continued its traditionally strong performance.
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