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Hermann Maier

Alpine Skiing · Austria

Hermann
Maier

World Record
1World Record
World Champion
3World Champion
Olympic Medal
2Olympic Medal
4Legend
Scroll

Photo: Manfred Werner (Tsui) / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

He crashed through two safety nets at Nagano - three days later he was Olympic champion The Herminator never stayed down.

About Hermann

Hermann Maier built one of alpine skiing's most dramatic careers: a spectacular downhill crash at the 1998 Nagano Olympics that could have ended in serious injury instead became the prelude to two gold medals just days later. Nicknamed "The Herminator", Maier won four World Cup overall titles and set a still-legendary points record in 2000, before a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2001 nearly cost him his leg - he came back anyway, winning again at Kitzbuehel in 2003 and claiming a fourth overall title in 2004.

The moments

Iconic
achievements

Legend
1998

Hermann Maier — Olympic champion - Nagano 1998 men's super-G (three days after career-threatening crash)

Won Olympic gold in the super-G at the Nagano 1998 Winter Games, just three days after a horrific downhill crash in which he flew off course, landed on his head, and tumbled through two layers of safe

Olympic Medal
1998

Hermann Maier — Olympic champion - Nagano 1998 men's giant slalom (Olympic double)

Completed a stunning Olympic double at Nagano 1998, winning gold in the giant slalom just three days after his super-G victory.

World Champion
1999

Hermann Maier — World Champion - 1999 Beaver Creek super-G (historic gold-medal tie)

Won World Championship gold in the super-G at Beaver Creek, tying Norway's Lasse Kjus down to the thousandth of a second - the first-ever gold medal tie in Alpine World Ski Championships history.

World Champion
1999

Hermann Maier — World Champion - 1999 Beaver Creek downhill (speed double)

Completed a speed-event double at the 1999 World Championships, winning downhill gold at Beaver Creek days after his tied super-G title.

World Record
2000

Hermann Maier — World record - 2,000 points in a single World Cup season

Set a then-record 2,000 World Cup points in a single season (1999-2000), sweeping the overall, downhill, super-G and giant slalom titles - a points record that stood until 2013.

Legend
2003

Hermann Maier — Comeback victory - Kitzbuehel super-G after near-amputation

Returned to World Cup racing in January 2003, less than 18 months after a near-fatal motorcycle accident that nearly cost him his right leg, and won the super-G at Kitzbuehel - a comeback that earned

Legend
2006

Hermann Maier — Two further Olympic medals at 33 - super-G silver and giant slalom bronze, Turin 2006

At age 33, four and a half years after his motorcycle accident, won two more Olympic medals at the Turin 2006 Games: silver in the super-G and bronze in the giant slalom.

Legend
2009

Hermann Maier — Career retirement - 54 World Cup wins, 4 overall titles

Announced his retirement after 13 seasons on the World Cup circuit, closing out a career of 54 World Cup wins (3rd all-time among men at the time), four overall titles and two career-threatening comeb

The record

  1. 1998Hermann Maier — Olympic champion - Nagano 1998 men's super-G (three days after career-threatening crash)Legend
  2. 1998Hermann Maier — Olympic champion - Nagano 1998 men's giant slalom (Olympic double)Olympic Medal
  3. 1999Hermann Maier — World Champion - 1999 Beaver Creek super-G (historic gold-medal tie)World Champion
  4. 1999Hermann Maier — World Champion - 1999 Beaver Creek downhill (speed double)World Champion
  5. 2000Hermann Maier — World record - 2,000 points in a single World Cup seasonWorld Record
  6. 2003Hermann Maier — Comeback victory - Kitzbuehel super-G after near-amputationLegend
  7. 2006Hermann Maier — Two further Olympic medals at 33 - super-G silver and giant slalom bronze, Turin 2006Legend
  8. 2009Hermann Maier — Career retirement - 54 World Cup wins, 4 overall titlesLegend