The Herminator may be no more, but a confident Hermann Maier is still a dangerous foe

The Herminator may be no more, but a confident Hermann Maier is still a dangerous foeA little more than two years removed from a near-fatal motorcycle crash, Austrian Olympic and World Cup champion Hermann Maier is winning races again. He began his comeback last season with a super G win at Kitzbühel. And this season he’s let it be known he’s back to stay. He followed up a strong GS at Park City with a fourth in the downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta — and then grabbed another super G win. Just before the races at Lake Louise, Maier sat down with Ski Racing’s Patrick Lang and talked about his current status, and what the future may hold.

Patrick Lang: How do you feel so far this season?

Hermann Maier: “I would say okay; here in Lake Louise I feel that I’m back with my training, after my rib problem from last month. I didn’t train downhill in Beaver Creek with the other guys and I didn’t test skis either. So I’m not feeling as confident and determined as usual. This course requires great precision and at the same time full attack because it’s pretty easy with all this fresh snow. I’m doing fine but not as good as I could. … I feel confident about my technique but not about the entire set-up. All the pieces have to perfectly fit together here to clock a fast time. It’s not the case for me yet.”

PL: So you’re not enjoying downhill as much as you hoped?

HM: “Not really, because you don’t feel so free and smooth as you want because you remember the great feeling from before. It’s a step-by-step process that you can’t avoid. On the other hand, I can’t forget from where I came from. Looking back to last year, it’s incredible to think that I’m now looking at where I can make up some tenths of second. A year ago I could not stand on my skis! Yesterday, while I walked through the lobby, I saw a story with a photo from [my hospital stay] pinned on the wall — I was laying in my bed after the operation. In reality, I came back from so far! … My results in past downhills, in Wengen, Kitzbühel and St. Moritz, are pretty fine considering my condition and my lack of training, especially when you consider the course conditions. The snow was pretty soft in those races — and as you know I enjoy more icy courses!”

PL: But you have learned to be patient in recent years?

HM: “This is true, and I feel able to wait until my form improves during the coming weeks. For the moment, I just don’t feel ready to attack as hard as in the past, but it will come sooner or later. In Park City, I skied well in the first GS run without putting any pressure on myself. I can’t take too many risks in GS until I get back my spot in the first seed. I was relaxed in the morning [finishing fourth in the first run], but then I tried too hard in the afternoon [he wound up seventh]. I had some problems with the flat light and I made too many mistakes at the bottom. But My GS is going better than expected. I watched the last race on TV and I saw that I was pretty conservative. I skied with more respect than usual because I wanted to come through.”

PL: In Park City, Bode Miller told us how important accessing information is for a ski racer; he suggested it’s like filing all the course information in a computer. What do you think of that?

HM: “For sure it helps you when you approach a course knowing that you are able to handle all the difficulties and that you exactly know the best tactic. It helped me a lot last winter. I lost so much feeling in my injured leg that I started my turns on information that I took from my brain, and not my legs. But on the other hand, in downhill, the course conditions are often crucial. This course [in Lake Louise] has nothing to do with the course which I raced last time I was here in December 2000! There is much more snow now and you have to use other tactics from two years ago. But on courses such as Kitzbühel, it’s definitely an advantage when you have perfectly memorized the run.”

PL: What makes you happy right now?

HM: “Well, to be racing, of course, and to feel that I’m improving in each run. It’s a question of rhythm and total, blind confidence. Before my accident, I was only thinking about how I could totally express my aggressiveness; now other thoughts go through my mind. There is a big difference between those levels — right now I’m skiing in my own minor league! … With some luck it’s possible to win once in a while when all the conditions are perfect but you want to reach the other level — when you can win a series of races. It’s more exciting!”

PL: What about your determination compared with the past? You don’t look as mean as before.

HM: “For sure I’m trying my best right now, but as I said earlier, when you don’t feel at your best, there is no way that you can be as aggressive as when you’re in top form. I may not look as mean and ferocious for the simple reason that I can’t, because it makes no sense. If I try too hard, I can only make mistakes because I don’t have the power and the skill yet to express all my determination. It will take time until I reach this point. … At that point I can race but not fly over the snow as before!”

PL: You look much more friendly now at the start.

HM: “Well, I know that I looked angry, but in fact I was able to collect so much momentum and energy in the last second before the start that I could really explode. It was a great advantage. … It was very exciting and I enjoyed this feeling because I knew that I was capable of crushing the rest of the field. Now the feeling is different because the situation is different, but I hope to get back those kinds of moments, which make ski racing such a great sport for me.”

PL: So how do you handle this period of progress and expectation?

HM: “I have no other choice than to be patient and wait until the feeling comes back. That’s why I consider myself in a period of training and progression without putting any unnecessary extra pressure on myself. You can’t force it but at the same time, you are looking for the moment and the race when you will get back this great feeling and this explosiveness which makes things so different! There is no feeling more exciting than to know you are approaching or even passing your limits, to reach a new zone. … My goals are modest for the moment but I accept it because I believe that my form should improve if everything goes according to plan.”

PL: Will we ever see the old Herminator again?

HM: “I don’t believe so — it will be another one. I’m different, I have more experience. I have reached such an incredible level in the past and I competed with so much intensity. … I don’t think I can ever repeat those years and it will take a long time until somebody else can repeat my achievements.”

PL: Will you at least try to imitate him?

HM: “No, my goal is to achieve my actual potential, to force past the block that’s still in me, and to win races. There is no reason to repeat what has already been done. To be at the start with the feeling that I can give my best from the first to the last gate … then I will be pretty happy!”