A kid from Flachau, Austria, whose parents were managing a ski school. Maier was always drawn to skiing from a young age until a growth disorder at the age of 15 stopped him from competing in the sport temporarily. Hermann then started competing in regional and local circuits winning almost all of them. Skiing can be a dangerous sport due to extreme weather and danger of not having a perfect technique. The story about Hermann being special skier is due to his ability to bounce back from, not one but two, near death accidents to winning the world cup circuits and even the Olympic gold medals.
1997-98 was the year Maier experienced everything in his life change. Winning 3 world cup titles and 2 olympic gold medals at Nagano, Japan. The events he won medals in were the Giant slalom and super giant slalom. The third medal could well have been on its way unless it was for his near death-crash, loosing control mid air at 65 mph and cartwheeling through two snow fences. He walked away with a dislocated shoulder and a sprained knee, surprisingly he won the gold medal in Super giant slalom 3 days later.

The video of Maier’s crash was shown repeatedly around the world over the next few days, much to Maier’s chagrin. “If you ask me,” he told Hampton Sides of Outside Online magazine, “I would prefer to be famous for winning two gold medals in Nagano rather than for my screwup.”Courtesy: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/sports-and-games/sports-biographies/hermann-maier
In August 2001, Maier was hit by a car when he was driving his own motorbike and thrown in a ditch, both literally and career-wise, as he wouldn’t be able to compete for the next 2 years. Doctors thought his injuries to be so serious that his leg was about to be amputated and thank gods for that didn’t happen. Maier got back in January 2003 and raced in his first world circuit but finished 31st. His career wouldn’t be the same.
He kept trying, and it is his lethal skills in skiing that earned him the name “Hermanator”. He raced again in turin games in 2006. He won silver and bronze in Super giant slalom and Giant slalom respectively. Although this may not seem like the fairytale ending for him, Maier being able to race again from the brink of leg amputation and then not giving up till 2006 when his age was 34, he won 2 medals again. This is one of the finest examples of spirit and passion a sport persuades any human to do.