Hermann Maier Exclusive Interview

Olympic Games are magic words for Austria's Hermann Maier. He became a world-wide star in 1998 at Nagano where he won two gold medals after surviving a dramatic crash in the downhill. He successfully tested the nickname given to him earlier that winter - "The Herminator."

In 1999, he became a downhill World Champion at Beaver Creek. Now his last major target is to win the Olympic downhill gold medal that he missed in Japan. It would be the crown of his career, also marked by an average of ten successes each winter.

He is quite pleased by what he discovered while training on the Olympic run at Snowbasin, Utah, and he feels able to achieve his gold dream here next year. But he is also thinking about his future beyond the 2002 World Cup Finals scheduled next season in his hometown at Flachau, Austria. It was going to be his last stop, but now he can imagine adding at least another season. He mentioned this in the following interview with us.

Questions by Patrick Lang:
Hermann, tell us your feelings about this Olympic run at Snowbasin.

Hermann Maier:
I like it. It's a superb course, technically very demanding, a run which requires great determination and strong skiing. There is even a big jump in the upper part which reminds me of the Hakuba course at Nagano. But this time, I took it easier. I stood up before it so as not to crash again.

For the moment, the snow is quite wet and soft. If it was hard or icy, it would be a perfect downhill for my style, because I could fight even harder. I'm quite excited to think that I will run the Olympic race here next year.

Patrick Lang:
What's your goal here this year?

Hermann Maier:
To give my best and to score a top-3 result, which will not be so easy. I'm skiing better on soft snow now than in the past, but other racers do it better than me. I feel in great shape. I don't have any problem with the jet-lag, and it's pretty quiet here after all the hassle at St. Anton. I remain motivated and I'm enjoying what I'm doing right now. So everything is fine. I won a great giant slalom in Japan last week, and it gave me momentum for this final part of the season. On my way to Salt Lake, I stop by to say hello to my friend Arnie in L.A. I'm having a good time in this moment.

Patrick Lang:
And for the rest of the season?

Hermann Maier:
I still have many goals left, especially the Overall World Cup standings. I have a strong lead so far, and I would be proud to win it again because it remains the summit for a skier. I also aim to collect several smaller crystal trophies at Are, especially the GS Cup. It will be quite an exciting final in Sweden. I'm very, very motivated to win it again. I'm still upset by what happened at Val d'Isére in December. I have won four GS this winter so I deserve to clinch the Trophy.

The downhill World Cup too is quite open. Stephan Eberharter is very consistent this season and this is also motivating me. There are three downhill races left, so I'm pretty busy in the coming week, remaining focused. Fortunately, ski racing is still fun for me.

Patrick Lang:
How pleased are you by this season and what was your greatest success?

Hermann Maier:
The balance is quite positive for me with a total of nine wins so far including four in GS - I'm having an excellent season and I'm pretty pleased. I had some bad luck at St. Anton where the snow conditions and the change in the program due to the bad weather didn't help me. If the competitions would have taken place as planned, and on the same snow conditions as during the downhill training runs, I would have won a title. It was really tough to race the GS a day after the downhill, but that's over now. I'm looking forward for the rest of the season which is also quite interesting.

Regarding my greatest victory, it's difficult to make a choice so far, but I can say the best and most impressive awards took place in Kitzbühel after the downhill. I was quite moved to see this huge crowd which attended the ceremony in the middle of the town. It was something very special which I will not forget for a long time.

Patrick Lang:
Will this kind of emotion influence you to keep on racing longer that you thought? So far you were supposed to stop in March 2002 after the Finals at home at Flachau?

Hermann Maier:
I already thought about it, but I didn't make up my mind yet. I planned to stop in 2002 after the Salt Lake City Olympics which seemed far away in 1998. I felt able to remain competitive another four years, and I wanted to stop while I'm still at the top. In fact, when you have won everything in your career, what's left? Why go on?

But as the time goes by, you change, your learn new things, your attitude is different. For the moment, I'm still enjoying ski racing so much that it would be difficult for me to think about ending my career next spring.

Last winter, I also found out that I can also live with defeats, that I didn't need to win all the time to be satisfied and motivated. I have learned to lose. This year, I didn't clinch any titles at St. Anton, but it doesn't really change anything for me. I'm still at the top - I'm on my way to winning my third overall World Cup title at Are. Life continue the same as before.

I have heard that Aamodt and Kjus also plan to keep on racing longer that they thought - maybe they were hoping to continue without me to win the Overall World Cup again? I know that Kjetil badly wants to win another Overall title before quitting.

For the moment, I don't know what I will do next year. Everything will depend on my momentum and my health. At my age, you need to verify that everything is fine. I put a lot of pressure on my body, and I feel sometimes pain in my back and in my knees, so I have to be sure that I can keep on training hard before going on. It's good to ski for fun, but I still want to win races - and as often as possible.