Herminator....Won't Be Back!

:(Hi all,

It' is with a heavy heart I read on the WTSS site a few minutes ago that the great Herman Maier will be hanging up his competetive racing boots :(,he says that he wishes to retire while he still has his health,and as the years of injuries and thrills and spills have taken their toll)....

....and I don't blame the old boy, after his motorcycle accident in 2001 which left his lower leg virtually hanging off by a scrap of skin,muscle and tendons and which the specialists told him he would never walk again he made a remarkable recovery,and in 2003 went on to win races in Downhill and Super-G.

After a spectacular 14 year career in which he notched up to name a few, 2 olympic Golds in Negano 1998 ,Silver and Bronze in Turin 2006 ,4 Overall World Championship Crowns and 54 World Cup titles...

Not bad for a 36 year old :thumbup:,not sure if he will be going back to bricklaying though....but at least he has a trade to fall back on :D


jon.

All great things come to an end a great brave man a real sporting hero and he is Austrian :shock:

The photo I saw from the press conference was pretty telling :( I wonder what other factors have influenced his decision.

bandit wrote:The photo I saw from the press conference was pretty telling :( I wonder what other factors have influenced his decision.

I am a great follower of Herman and I think over the last couple of years he just was not competitive enough whether that is him losing the edge or equipment, I think he continued a little too long :cry:

Ian Wickham wrote:

bandit wrote:The photo I saw from the press conference was pretty telling :( I wonder what other factors have influenced his decision.

I am a great follower of Herman and I think over the last couple of years he just was not competitive enough whether that is him losing the edge or equipment, I think he continued a little too long :cry:

I agree, after an injury such as the one he sustained it would be impossible to ever achieve the same level of fitness,and I remember him saying in an interview that he never got the full feeling back in his lower leg.....and the feeling you get between your feet,the ski's and the snow is everything....

A great sportsman and skiing legend

jon.

Still he was and still is a great Athlete and I wish him all the best for the future 8)

Still he was and still is a great Athlete and I wish him all the best for the future 8)

I watched the Herman Mahr twice on the Hahnemkann Downhill, once with his left knee tucked behind his ear, his right foot stretching for the ground, high speed,....my everlasting memory of a great skier.

He, and others on the Austrian team trained the week before the H. in Niederau, and had lunch in the Tennladen Stuble, just across from the Bichlwirt.