Legends come and go but few have the charisma and appeal of Rolex Testimonee Hermann Maier, let alone the success.  Maier's ski racing career was the stuff born of sheer determination and he rose from being a forerunner to becoming a super hero. But like all good books, this chapter of his life has now come to a close.

Rolex Testimonee Hermann Maier, foto credit (c) ROLEX

Hermann Maier 1972 (AUT), Hahnenkamm-Race Kitzbuehel 2009, Super-G, foto credit (c) ROLEX/Kurt Arrigo

Maier was simply outstanding. No matter his result, he was the racer that everybody wanted to beat and those in the press area wanted to listen to. Few racers commanded that attention but Maier had time for the Austrian media and then for the rest of the world. He was always courteous, yet knew that since his motorcycle accident in 2001 he has been living on borrowed time. Sitting in the press conference after his miraculous 2005 win in the GS at the World Championships in Bormio, Maier seemed shocked that he had won. This was a man who was brash and daring, yet who was trying to understand the amazing feats he had accomplished.

For many Maier was the character that the sport craved at a time when it was almost devoid of personalities. After winning four of the five crystal globes at the end of the 2000 - 2001 season, Maier had raised the bar substantially and no one could touch him. His career brought him ten medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships as well as 54 World Cup wins. Maier won the Overall World Cup four times, the Downhill title twice, Super G title five times and the Giant Slalom title three times. But his legendary status comes from his repeated performances in Kitzbuehel: five wins and a second out of seven starts at this superb location. Super G Friday in Kitzbuehel became synonymous with Hermann Maier and then there was also Nagano Olympics and that fall. The fact that he got up to win Gold in the next race is the sort of thing that super heroes are made of.

Last season, despite winning again in Beaver Creak, USA, one could see that it was getting harder for the great athlete. This was a man who was used to fighting it out for the wins, not scrapping for top ten places. After a disappointing opening race in Solden in the GS, he dropped out of the discipline and focused on the speed races and in particular the Super G. Maier would go on to finish fourth in the World Cup and was in with a shout of the Crystal Globe up to the last race.

While talking with Maier during an exclusive interview for his sponsor, Rolex, in Kitzbuehel in 2007, Maier answered questions as though it was the first time he had heard any of them. He comes from Flachau in neighbouring Salzburgerland, Austria, yet he admitted that Kitzbuehel has a special place in his heart. He had just picked up his trophy for the runner-up spot in the Super G and had been mobbed by the infamous Hahnenkamm crowd - he is their hero, their Superhero. Despite finishing 12th in 2009, Maier still clearly received the biggest roar as he came over Hausbergkannte and into the view of the massive crowd in the finish area.

Despite injuring his knee back in March, Maier had been planning to return to speed racing in November and had resumed snow training. "I came to the conclusion after a few days of mulling it over that I should draw a line under my career as a ski racer as of today," he said. "It was important for me to get healthy and so that's why I'm bringing down the curtain. It wasn't an easy decision. In fact it was a very tough one and it's difficult to let go. I'm ending a career which as a kid I could have hardly imagined ever turning out better."

International Press Information
Hahnenkamm-News
KPMS
October 13, 2009
Kitzbuehel, Austria

  Tweet