Legendary Austrian ski racer, Hermann Maier, announced his retirement from ski racing yesterday, after winning 54 World Cup races, 4 Overall World Cup titles, 3 World Championship titles and 2 Olympic gold medals. He is 37 years of age and fought back tears as he announced his decision to retire. Though Hermann was sent home from the Schladming Ski Academy for his “slight build” at the age of 15, he persevered, overcame multilpe injuries and set-backs to became one of the greatest alpine ski racers ever.
“I have reached much more that I thought in my great career, I’m really proud of what I was able to achieve, especially during my comeback years. My goal at the beginning was to be a racer, I was passionate by the sport, but I never imagined I could be so strong during all those exciting years.” –Hermann MaierOde to "The Herminator", By Randosteve
Hermann Maier, you were the King of the Hill,
But sometimes you crashed, and made us all shrill.
You raced past gates, as fast as you can,
And often you where crowned, the fastest man.
Your legs are like tree trucks, that we all wish were ours,
So we can ski like a champion, before apre at the bars.
You come from Austria with a nickname the Herminator,
And have proved you're the best, without needing a translator.
I never saw you ski in person, but Pepi Stiegler lives near by,
He's an Olympian as well, and also a cool guy.
I did see you on TV, at the big Olympic Games in Nagano,
When you wrecked hard in the downhill, but didn't seem to matter though.
You came back and dominated, and in the giant slalom won the gold,
And to your face, no one could ever say, you were old
After many years of racing, you've decide to give it a rest
But it doesn't matter to us, because we know you were the best!
Su
Obvious roid monster in retrospect.
O’RLY?
Nice Steve. He was beast, always great to watch him tear up a course!
Big Up Hermanator!!!
One strong friggin skier. Yes, one of the best ever.
Unreal how he came back after his motorcycle crash!
He could have easily got that burly eating knödels, scnhitzel and beer.
No doubt…Austrian grub sure isn’t low calorie.
Not to focus on the trying moments, but watching him walk away from that crash in Nagano still stands as the most amazing sports moment I have seen live. At the time I was convinced I was watching someone die.
dude must be made of steel! and then to come back and win 2 golds two days later.?!!
THE man!!!
Not that I read many poems but this one is sure one of the best 😉
Very Poetic Steve… I think I shed a tear.
Prost to the Herminator! Amazing athlete. as Ptor pointed out, his comeback after the moto crash has to go down as an text book example of what the human being is capable of. and yeah, i would think plenty of Gösser will make a man that strong.