POSTED: October 13th 2009
NewsUpdate
Olympic ski legend the Herminator retires
LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications
TAMPA, Oct. 13: Olympian Hermann Maier announces his retirement from ski racing citing health issues behind the difficult decision. With a heavy heart the world renowned skier held a press conference today in Vienna and even broke down at the announcement.
He had knee surgery in March at the end of the last World Cup season and recently started training but was not back in full force due to the surgery.
The ski champ is known for his spectacular crash at the Nagano Olympics in 1998 where he took flight off the slope, cartwheeled a tumble and crashed through two gates. Sports Illustrated photographer, Carl Yarbrough, caught him in flight and the photo was one of the more famous covers of the magazine.
The world was watching in awe as he stood up, dusted himself off and went on to won 2 gold medals the next day earning himself the nickname the “Herminator”. Fellow Austrian and the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the “Terminator” is also a Hermann Maier fan and on many occasions has come to cheer on the skier.
He took gold in the Super G and the Giant Slalom and left Japan an international hero. The International Olympic Committee even used the video of the crash and his victory the next day to make a compelling advertisement for television.
At the top of his career in August 2001 just a few months prior to the Salt Lake City Olympics, Maier was hit riding his motorcycle in a devastating accident at hometown Flachau that almost cost him his leg. He endured a long grueling two year rehabilitation never giving up that he would one day make it to the Olympic slopes again.
Though he did not make the Salt Lake City Games as planned he graced the cover of the World Olympian Association (WOA) publication for the event as a role model athlete and an inspiration for all Olympians.
He proved himself as he made it once again to the World Cup circuit in mid January of 2003 at Adelboden, Switzerland and two weeks later was back on the podium making headlines all over the world with a stunning Cup win on the slopes at nearby Kitzbuehel.
In 2004 the Laureaus World Sports Award gave him the honor of “Comeback of the Year” for his amazing tenacity. He went on to win the World Cup title that year also.
In 2006 at Turin he got that chance and fought back taking the silver in the Super G and the bronze in the Giant Slalom. He proved his comeback spirit once and for all.
Longtime spokesman and friend, Knut Okresek, and Maier wrote the biography The Race of My Life that was launched at the start of the Turin Games. One of the best role model sports stories ever details his true grit personality and driving dedication to get back in his ski boots and continue his cup collection.
Maier is the one of the greatest ski racers in the history of the sport with 54 World Cups ranking him second only to Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark. He won four Olympic medals and World Cup titles 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2004.
Maier has not yet made plans for the future but Austrian skiing hopes to keep him busy inspiring the team and helping recruitment for future ski stars. He has a notable fanbase in Austria and around the world is widely looked up to by youth everywhere as an exemplary Olympian.
SportsFeatures.com has been an avid follower of Maier's career from the horrific motorcycle crash, through the rehabilitation and back to the lofty heights of Olympic medals. We wish him every success and happiness with his new life and most importantly the good health to enjoy every minute. He'll get back on his bike and hit it head on.
Picture (above right): Maier as he finishes the bronze medal run at Turin / Image: lake images
Keywords · Hermann Maier · Herminator · FIS · World Ski Cup
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