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Great Athletes

Hermann Maier

by Michael H. Burchett

Sport: Skiing

Early Life

Hermann Maier’s parents ran a ski school in their hometown of Altenmarkt, Austria. Hermann began skiing at the age of three. By the time he was six, he was racing against other children. Because he had the potential to be a fine ski racer, he was enrolled in a special high school for promising skiers. At the age of fifteen, he was the Austrian junior national champion. He was called an aggressive skier, but because of his small size—he only weighed 110 pounds—and his bad knees and shin splints, he was asked to leave the school.

Hermann Maier skiing in the World Cup downhill competition at Chamonix, France, in 2008.

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(Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)

From the ski school, Hermann went to a trade school to become a bricklayer. He continued to ski: He trained in the mornings and taught at the ski school on weekends. He also continued to enter regional races.

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The Road to Excellence

In 1996, Hermann was asked to be a forerunner for the World Cup super-giant slalom (super-G) in Flachau. A forerunner is a skier who is not part of the race but who goes down the course before the racers to set a time for the course. The course of the super-G is quite steep and has many gates through which the racers must go. Although the gates are far apart, the racers must make tight turns on a straight run to finish in a faster time. Hermann’s time as a forerunner in the World Cup event was the fourth fastest of the day. Because of his performance in Flachau, he was invited to participate on the Europa Cup travel squad.

The Emerging Champion

In 1997, in the first three races of the ski season, Hermann finished in the top three. He was invited to participate on the Austrian World Cup team. His skiing was described as relaxed, but he was known to always take risks and often had a wild-eyed look.

Hermann went to the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, with the Austrian World Cup alpine ski team. He was set to participate in three alpine skiing events—the downhill, the super-G, and the giant slalom. The first event was the downhill. During the race, Hermann had a huge crash: He flew off the course, went through the air, and landed on his head. He continued to crash through two safety mesh fences and was finally stopped by a third safety fence. Amazingly, he walked away complaining only of a headache, a painful shoulder, and a sore knee.

Three days later, Hermann won the gold medal in the men’s super-G. Three days after that, the giant slalom event took place. The giant slalom is one of two technical events in ski racing. Racers take two runs in one day down a course that is shorter than the speed-event courses. Gates are set fairly close together, and racers must make wide turns to get through these gates. Hermann earned his second gold medal, finishing a full .8 of a second before the silver medalist.

The media nicknamed Hermann “The Herminator,” “Monster,” and “Racin’ Mason”—because of his days as a bricklayer. Hermann’s fearless, go-for-it style and spectacular crash in the downhill race helped to earn him these nicknames.

Continuing the Story

Hermann continued to ski on the Austrian team, winning races and earning praise. He skied his best super-G race ever in Bormio, Italy, in March, 2000. In this race, the final World Cup super-G of the season, Hermann finished almost 2 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. The 1.91-second margin was the greatest ever in a World Cup super-G event. Hermann took the super-G title and the overall title during this season. Points are given to racers in every event in which they compete. The points are assigned according to the field of racers and the racer’s finish. Hermann reached the 2,000-point plateau in overall point standings—the highest ever for a ski racer.

After only three years on the World Cup circuit as a ski racer, Hermann had won fifteen races in the super-G as well as Olympic and Alpine World Ski Championships titles. At the completion of the 2000 race season, he had his twenty-eighth win. In March, 2001, he won another World Cup super-G title at Kvitfjell, Norway, becoming the third ski racer ever, and the first since 1987, to take home four Crystal Globes in one season by winning titles in the overall, downhill, super-G, and giant slalom.

In August, 2001, Hermann was involved in a severe motorcycle accident, in which his right leg was nearly severed. Doctors considered amputating the leg, but were able to reattach it successfully. Hermann missed the 2002 Winter Olympics as a result of his injuries, and many close to the sport believed that his days as a competitive skier were over. However, after a grueling period of rehabilitation, Hermann returned to competitive skiing in 2003, winning a super-G event in World Cup competition at Kitzbühel, Austria. The following season, he won the super-G and overall competition in the World Cup, completing one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. In 2006, Hermann returned to Olympic competition at Turin, Italy, winning a silver medal in the super-G and a bronze medal in the giant slalom. Hermann remained a competitive force in international skiing after the 2006 Winter Olympics, regularly placing in the top ten in super-G, giant slalom, and downhill competitions during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons.

Summary

Born and raised in Austria to parents who ran a ski school, Hermann Maier seemed to have an ideal environment in which to become a ski racer. In fact, he became one of the greatest ski racers in the history of the sport. Though he showed early promise, he was forced to take time off to grow to a more mature height and weight. Continuing to train and race, Hermann was eventually recognized as an exceptional ski racer. After racing on the World Cup circuit for only three years, he had earned more titles and points than anyone in the sport. A debilitating injury threatened to end his career, but his successful comeback ultimately solidified his reputation for resilience and perseverance. His daredevil attitude on the racecourse and his charming personality made him a favorite of fans and the media.

Additional Sources

1 

Bechtel, Mike. “High and Tight.” In Sports Illustrated 2000 Sports Almanac. New York: Time, 1999.

2 

Bilger, Burkhard. “Twin Peaks.” The New Yorker 79, no. 44 (January 26, 2004): 62.

3 

Levinson, David, and Karen Christensen, eds. Encyclopedia of World Sport III: From Ancient Times to the Present. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 1996.

4 

Maier, Hermann, and Knut Okresek. Hermann Maier: The Race of My Life. Boulder, Colo.: VeloPress, 2005.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Burchett, Michael H. "Hermann Maier." Great Athletes,Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Athletes_2117.
APA 7th
Burchett, M. H. (2009). Hermann Maier. Great Athletes. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Burchett, Michael H. "Hermann Maier." Great Athletes. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed December 14, 2025. online.salempress.com.