Another triumph for Hermann Maier

Austria’s Hermann Maier completed an impressive comeback from a gruelling motorcycle accident in which he nearly lost a leg, winning the overall World Cup title while USA’s Bode Miller captured the giant slalom cup. Miller became the first American man to clinch a World Cup title since Phil Mahre in 1983.

Both skiers took advantage of the cancellation of the last giant slalom of the season because of heavy snowfall and thick fog. The race was called off midway through the second run, giving Miller the specialty title and Maier his fourth overall crown.

Benjamin Raich, also from Austria, and Kalle Palander, from Finland, who were leading the race after the first run, were still in the run for the overall and the GS World Cup titles before the race was called off after several hours of discussion between the race jury and the organizers.

At that point Miller has skied out in the first run while Maier was in 4th place after the arrival of half a dozen of competitors.

Hermann, who celebrated his 47th World Cup victory last Thursday in a Super-G – and his 5th this winter – was very emotional about his latest triumph.
In August 2001, he nearly lost his right leg in the accident. Now the Austrian could bask in one of his finest accomplishments.

“This is worth as much as my first Olympic gold medal in Nagano, maybe a little more,” the 31-year-old Maier said, referring to his 1998 victory a few days after one of ski racing's most spectacular downhill crashes.
“I didn’t expect it at all at the season start. Last October, I was just hoping to be able to compete in all my races and be healthy at the Finals. Then I had some good races in North America, but I had a more difficult period in January. Fortunately, I was able to find back my rhythm and my form in February. “This is an incredible victory but I worked very hard to come back.”

Maier will not compete in the slalom as his team-mate Stephan Eberharter, who sits in 2nd place with a delay of 42 points. Miller and Raich will fight for 3rd place in Sunday’s slalom.

Miller crashed

Miller had crashed on the first run, making a big mistake shortly after the first split and ended up on his back with his skis in the air. He was not too pleased by the way he won.

“As I always say, this is an unpredictable sport,” he commented. For me, it turned out as well as it possibly could, I was lucky this time,” he added. “`I think I deserved the title, but I would have been happier to see that race go off and see what Palander would do.”
“I finished in the top-4 in all the giant slalom races I ended – but I didn’t score as many points as I wanted at the season start.”

“Winning a GS World Cup title is one of the things I've wanted to do since starting ski racing. It was a little bit anticlimactic.”
“It was a tough race and I felt very tired when I lay with my back on the snow. I tried hard to be first or second – I was still fighting for the overall title!”


Three other skiers were battling against Maier's in the overall standings before Saturday’s race, but the cancellation ended up knocking out Miller, Austrian Benjamin Raich and defending overall champion Stephan Eberharter.

Maier won three overall titles before his accident while Eberharter, the 2004 downhill World Cup champion, dominated the last two seasons when Maier was absent and recuperating.

He also clinched four gold medals at Olympics and World Championships in 1998 and 1999.

Eric Moffitt