Alpine Skiing Preview

Not Another One: The Power of Hermann Maier

Maier

Tops on the list of amazing Austrian ski racers this year is Hermann Maier, of Flachau, who has won almost every race he has entered this season.

Maier has a shot, like former Austrian star Toni Sailer, to win three Gold medals in Nagano.

The history of great Austrian ski racers is incredible. This tiny country seems to have the genetic codes on fast skiers. Legends like Toni Sailer, Karl Schranz and Franz Klammer helped breed a litany of current stars.

For the past several seasons, Austrians have again been at the top of men's World Cup ski racing. The current crop is no exception. But guys like Gunther Mader, Patrick Ortlieb and the "Tommys"- Stangassinger and Sykora, have been shoved out of the way by the latest in Tyrolian talent.

Maier Can't Lose
Hermann Maier has won just about every race he has entered this season: three Giant Slaloms, Park City, Saalbach and Adelboden; three Super-G's Beaver Creek, and two in Schladming; two Downhills, Wengen, Bormio; and, one combined title, also in Wengen.

Maier is the runaway leader for the overall World Cup title, with a whopping 600 point lead over his teammate Andreas Schifferer. He also leads the GS and Super-G standings. Hermann skis with the devil-may-care attitude of Italian superstar Alberto Tomba and the control of the great Swiss ace Micheal Von Gruenigen.

But Hermann Maier is no "spring chicken". At 26-years-old, he should be a veteran on the World Cup, but the 1997-'98 season is only this third as a full-timer.

A combination of bad luck and injuries have kept Maier on the sidelines. At one point, he quit skiing all together and worked as a bricklayer in his hometown of Flachau in southeastern Austria.

Things changed last season as Hermann found his form and his new, hot Atomic skis. Maier surprised everybody but himself by winning the first Super-G in Garmisch last season and then taking second the next day there. He finished a respectable 4th in Super-G in Kvitfjell, Norway and fifth in Giant Slalom at the World Cup finals in Vail. His coaches obviously worked with him over the summer, because this season he has been unbeatable.

Hat Trick in Nagano?
The Winter Olympics in Nagano could be the crescendo of Hermann Maier's meteoric career. He skipped the races in, Kitzbuhel much to the chagrin of his fans, to rest up for the "big show". Maier is favored to win three gold medals at the Games. He is certainly the only alpine ski racer, and possibly the only athlete in Nagano, to have a realistic shot at three victories.

The Giant Slalom and Super-G are his favorites, but his Downhill skills have improved considerably, resulting in his victory in Wengen. And judging by Hermann Maier's incredible season so far, I wouldn't put it past him.

You just gotta love the fact that a bricklayer is whuppin' the world's elite!

Where He Stands
Total World Cup Points:1405
Downhill: 419 (2nd)
Super-G: 300 (1st)
Combined: 100 (1st)

— Eric Moffitt, Mountain Zone Correspondent