Athlete profile: Hermann Maier

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

The "Racin' Mason", Maier left his job as a bricklayer to race on the World Cup circuit...already 25 years old, Maier has only been competing with the Austrian national team for two years...last year was actually his first complete season on the World Cup tour after taking part in the lesser Europa Cup events the winter before...so you might think that Maier's meteoric rise to the World Cup podium -- including a win in the Super G at Garmisch, Germany last year and several 1997-98 season wins in giant slalom, super G and downhill -- is an absolute phenomenon...he is quickly emerging as one of the premier all-arounders on the World Cup circuit and has led the overall World Cup standings for much of the winter...but Maier had the talent all along...at age 15, Maier was Austrian junior national champion and displayed the kind of aggressive skiing he is currently demonstrating...at the time he won the junior title, national team coaches looked at Maier and saw a scrawny and scrappy athlete..."I was only 50 kilos [110 lbs.]," says Maier. "They all told me I was too small, too light to become anything good. I was 15 years old and I must go out of ski school"...Maier also was stricken with some bad knees and shin splints and he quickly fell from top level skiing competition...in the years following, Maier was a bricklayer near the city of Salzburg, working and skiing in his free time...he would compete in regional races every so often, but stayed away from larger FIS events...then two years ago, Maier was re-discovered...at the 1996 World Cup super G race in Maier's hometown of Flachau, Maier was asked to be one of the forerunners for the race...not only did Maier blast through the course, he set the fourth fastest time of the day...it was a harbinger of things to come...the national team coaches noticed Maier and immediately placed him on their Europa Cup travel squad..."It went fast, certainly," says one astonished Austrian journalist. "Europa Cup and then up"...Maier proved himself with a win last season and his string of podiums to start the 1997 winter...in the first three races he cracked the top three each time...he credits the Austrian skiers around him with his success..."The Austrian team is very strong," says Maier. "Every training is like a race. I look and look at my teammates. We trained very hard this season"...Maier made some equipment adjustments before the winter..."I'm skiing with a new ski, a shorter ski and it's going better," says Maier. "I skied tighter with the gates"...but Maier is also a team player above all...after his strong performance in the opening World Cup Events in Tignes, Maier deflected attention to others..."The team performance was exceptional," he said. "Above all, I am happy about the comeback of Stefan [Eberharter]" -- a teammate who had been off of the World Cup team for two years and placed fourth in Tignes...Maier is the type of competitor who does not let his surroundings bother him...at the Park City World Cup giant slalom this November, Maier blitzed through the course during a full blizzard and still finished almost one second ahead of later skiers who had crystal clear skies..."He can be very dangerous, because he is so relaxed," says five-time Olympic medalist from Norway Kjetil Andre Aamodt...one month later, Maier was the subject of a major controversy...after crossing the finish line with a winning time in Val d'Isere's giant slalom race, Maier quickly removed his ski for the television cameras...unfortunately, Maier took off his ski too early -- short of a line set by the International Ski Federation to prEvents skiers from making too much of a show of the sponsors skis -- and was disqualified..."I saw the red points, and thought that these were border markings," Maier said after the win was handed to Michael von Grünigen of Switzerland...an Austrian protest was still under consideration as of press time...completely unfazed, Maier went on to win his next race in Bormio, Italy in a characteristic "go-for-broke" victory..."I remember sitting at home just before New Year watching this race because I wasn't on the downhill team," said Maier after winning..."Hermann Maier is the type of athlete I would love to have on my team," says German national team coach Rainer Mutschler."He just does what he needs to do. He takes a chance and just goes. He doesn't pay attention to his surroundings"...in Nagano, Maier will no doubt notice his Olympic surroundings, but will it be enough to throw off the focused skier?...along with his early-career successes in the giant slalom and super G, Maier is beginning to excel in the downhill, which will make him a contender in the combined as well as the World Cup overall title -- an award not won by an Austrian man since Karl Schranz in 1970..."The super G is my favorite discipline," says Maier. "This discipline you must ski very well if you're going to be fast"...like many other Austrians, Hermann lists the late Rudi Nierlich, who died in a tragic car accident, as one of his boyhood idols...similar to Maier, Nierlich was trained as a manual tradesmen; he was a carpenter...Maier enjoys playing soccer, climbing and motorcycling in his free time...he speaks some English...