Hermann Maier

Hermann Maier is an Austrian former alpine ski racer who won two Olympic gold medals and three overall World Cup titles. Known as the “Herminator,” he competed especially successfully in downhill, super-G, and giant slalom.

1998 Winter Olympics: The Winter Olympic Games held in Nagano, Japan, in February 1998. Maier won super-G and giant slalom gold after a dramatic downhill crash.
Alpine skiing: A family of ski racing disciplines in which competitors descend a mountain course through gates. Maier competed in several of its fastest and most technically demanding disciplines.
Flachau: A municipality in the Austrian state of Salzburg, situated in the Alps. Maier was born there and grew up in a ski-centered region.
Motorcycle crash: A serious motorcycle accident in 2001 that caused severe injuries to Maier’s right leg. The injury threatened his career, but he returned to win Olympic gold.
2002 Winter Olympics: The Winter Olympic Games held in Salt Lake City, Utah, in February 2002. Maier returned from a serious motorcycle crash to win super-G gold.
Downhill skiing: An alpine ski racing discipline focused on high-speed descents over long courses. Maier’s power and speed made him a leading downhill racer.
Austrian Alpine Ski Team: The national team representing Austria in international alpine ski racing. Maier raced for Austria throughout his World Cup and Olympic career.
Nagano downhill crash: Maier’s spectacular fall during the downhill race at the 1998 Winter Olympics. He walked away from the crash and won two gold medals days later.
2001 Alpine Skiing World Cup: The season-long international alpine skiing competition held during 2000–01. Maier won the overall title and three discipline titles that season.
Super-G: An alpine ski racing discipline combining downhill speed with a more closely gated course. Maier won Olympic gold and multiple World Cup titles in this discipline.

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Ingemar StenmarkCompared with: Maier became a later benchmark for all-around World Cup success, unlike Stenmark's technical-event focus.