Wendy Holdener, Tina Maze, Mikaela Shiffrin 2013 Ofterschwang SL: photo GEPA

The Slovenian former overall World Cup champion totaled a record-setting 2,414 points in 2012-’13, a staggering number that Mikaela Shiffrin has a possibility to reach this season

Ten years ago, Tina Maze lit the ski racing world on fire, becoming the first Slovenian to capture an overall World Cup title. Maze achieved 11 victories and stood atop a record-breaking 24 podiums that season. She won across all disciplines while competing in all 35 races.

Maze tallied 2,414 points, easily surpassing Hermann Maier’s previous record high of 2,000 points, which he scored in his 2000 season.

The Slovenian star, then 29, competed as part of her small and independent “Team to aMAZE.” Following the victory at the opening GS in Soelden, she led the season standings from wire to wire. It was a feat that only Bode Miller had previously accomplished. Winning the 2012-’13 overall title and making history for Slovenia was never in doubt. Maze outdistanced her nearest challenger, Maria Höfl-Riesch, by an unfathomable 1,313 points.  

“Everything went well; I would say,” Maze tells Ski Racing Media. “For me, doing all the events was never strange. I was just training more. The tricky part with doing all the events, making each turn, was not making mistakes.

“For me, it was so important to have this team around me, working 100% for me, and I’m not easy all the time,” she said. “I had good ski techs, physios and Andrea (Massi) as the perfect skiing and conditioning coach. For me, they were all fundamental through the whole season.”

Maze also noted that hearing her pop song ‘My Way is My Decision’ played at races helped to charge her batteries over a rigorous five-month season. In previous seasons, Maze had finished fourth, third and second in the overall standings.

The six-time Slovenian Sportswoman of the Year officially clinched her first and only overall title in Méribel, France, winning a super combined on February 24. Maze – officially retired in October 2016 – returns to the site of her essential victory in the French Alps this week. She is providing analysis and handling interviews for Eurosport and Discovery’s extensive TV and digital coverage of the World Championships.

Shiffrin’s current dream season: the sky is the limit

Shiffrin has amassed eleven victories and 1,697 points after 28 of 39 races this season. On paper, it puts her on pace to score 2,303 points. However, she will skip at least two speed races in Crans-Montana, following the ongoing World Championships in France.

Considering that the team parallel event at finals doesn’t count for individual points, it would leave Shiffrin with eight races to earn the necessary 667 points to pass Maze. She potentially has two speed races in Kvitfjell, two tech events in Åre, and four closing races (one of each discipline) in Soldeu, Andorra.

For argument’s sake, if Shiffrin can win the remaining two GS and two slalom races, that would leave her requiring 267 more points across two downhills and two super-Gs. She would need to average 66.7 points per race, slightly better than four third-place finishes.

Exceedingly difficult, yes. However, considering the U.S. phenom’s torrid pace and 47.8% winning percentage this season, not impossible.

“I see some similarities in the level of our preparation and performances,” Maze said, comparing her 2,414-point season and Mikaela’s current campaign. “But Mikaela has been doing this for such a long time – I think the system around her is so well-organized that it keeps her fresh, even after these tough years she has been through.

“That’s what impresses me the most – she has been first, first, first, for so many years. It’s possible that she can score these points. If not this year, maybe next year,” Maze says, referring to 2,414.

World Championship success, discipline title disappointment

Maze also thrived at the Schladming World Championships during her 2012-’13 record-breaking season. The Slovenian star won gold in super-G and silver medals in giant slalom and super combined.

“I’ve heard these stories that if you are focusing on the World Cup, then you will probably lack something at the World Championships. I wanted to show that was not true,” Maze said. “I had a short break, so I was fresh. We also had a good plan and program for World Championships, and I was just constantly skiing well.” 

About the only blemish or two on Maze’s dream season was coming up a bit short of winning the slalom and downhill titles. She lost, respectively, to the 17-year-old Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn. Still, she raised three crystal globes.

Too much java

Maze relinquished a 0.58 second first run lead of the slalom finale to Shiffrin. The U.S. rising star, claiming her fourth slalom victory that winter, edged Maze by 33 points for her first slalom title. Maze praised Shiffrin while also revealing a miscalculation in her usual routine.

“I would always drink one coffee in the morning, one before the first run and one before the second run,” Maze explains. “With Finals and the runs being so close together, I drank one coffee at 7 am, one at 8:30 and then at 10:30 before the second run.

“When I started to warm up, my body was feeling so strange and my head was rolling around. I saw double gates as I started. My skiing was terrible and I lost the globe.”

Losing the downhill title was beyond her control as uncooperative weather led to the cancellation of the final event. With Vonn already out, having injured herself in a crash at the World Championships, Maze only needed to score two points in the last race to lock up the downhill crown. She never had the opportunity. 

“That’s sport – she deserved it. She was so much better in downhill than me,” Maze said about Vonn and the unfortunate outcome.

Maze’s incredible 2,414-point total could have been higher. Not only was the downhill wiped out at the Lenzerheide Finals, but the super-G was also canceled.

One last shot at overall title No. 2

The dominant, title-winning season would be the last of Maze’s 26-victory, 15-year racing career. The Slovenian finished fourth in the standings the following season, although she charged to two gold medals at the Sochi 2014 Olympics.  

She narrowly missed a second title in 2014-’15 finishing runner-up, by 22 points, to Austrian Anna Veith. The large crystal globe was decided at an intense Finals showdown between the duo, contested in Méribel.

“I was always up and down with my career. That bothered me sometimes because Mikaela and Lindsey were able to stay on top for so long. And Marcel (Hirscher), too,” Maze said. “I could never do that even though my technique was so good.”

In the current era of specialization and racers cautiously avoiding a full season schedule to remain fresh and healthy, one wonders if there will ever be another true all-rounder like Shiffrin or Maze.

“With the ladies, it might still be possible, but with the men, it’s already impossible. They are so specialized with their turns and materials,” Maze points out.

“And then there’s the matter of the decision if you want to do it. Skiing three events like Marco (Odermatt) and (Alexander Aamodt) Kilde is already a lot.

“I hope not, but maybe Mikaela will be one of the last ones.”

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