Worlds profiles: A few words with Tina Maze

Val d’Isere, France – Six-time World Cup winner Tina Maze made Slovenia glow with pride again this season when she landed on the top of the World Cup giant slalom podium at Maribor for the second time (the first was in 2005). Consistently a top-10 finisher in GS and super G and occasionally in downhill and super-combined, Maze equates her sport to another of her passions: playing the piano. She talked a bit about her busy schedule between downhill training runs at the world championships in Val d’Isere.Val d’Isere, France – Six-time World Cup winner Tina Maze made Slovenia glow with pride again this season when she landed on the top of the World Cup giant slalom podium at Maribor for the second time (the first was in 2005). Consistently a top-10 finisher in GS and super G and occasionally in downhill and super-combined, Maze equates her sport to another of her passions: playing the piano. She talked a bit about her busy schedule between downhill training runs at the world championships in Val d’Isere.

What do you typically do after a race?

I usually go for lunch. Sometimes I have more training. Now, after downhill training, I have slalom training for combined. Sometimes I go to sleep. I sleep after a race, because I’m usually tired.

What do you do when you’re not ski racing?

In the season, I wake up and go for coffee, then go again to wake me up in the afternoon. Then I have physical training. During the season, there’s not much time for anything besides training and physical therapy.

What do you usually do in the summer?

In summer, I like to play beach volley. I like to be at the sea. I just love to play beach volley. I could play it for the whole day.

What are your other passions?

I like music. I was playing the piano at school and I think the art goes really good with sport. It’s really related. You need feeling for sport like you need for art or music or whatever. I can play a few songs, but not too often. I really enjoy it. If there is a piano in the hotel, I usually play it. But now [my teammates] already know all the songs, so I should start something new.