Garmisch: No. 53 for Hermann Maier; Schneider's 55 up next

By Published On: January 28th, 2006Comments Off on Garmisch: No. 53 for Hermann Maier; Schneider's 55 up next

Garmisch: No. 53 for Hermann Maier; Schneider’s 55 up nextHermann Maier is the second-best male skier in World Cup history, if you go strictly by the numbers of wins.

The only man with more victories is Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, whose 86 wins seem as insurmountable a sports record as Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak.

Maier passed Alberto Tomba on the all-time wins list Oct. 23 in Soelden, when he won the giant slalom at the World Cup opener.

Two women have more World Cup wins than Maier has. Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria won 62 and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland won 55.

Maier maintains that he had passed Tomba last season because in Maier’s mind, Soelden was his 52nd win; he still counts the controversial 1997 episode at Val d’Isere, where he was disqualified for a technicality.

“I’m counting this as a victory in my own private statistics,” he writes in his autobiography. “Even though I have the best time, I’m disqualified because I unbuckle one ski before crossing the ‘red line.’ This is a ‘dinosaur regulation,’ which was supposedly issued because of the overly long commercial breaks on television.”

Had he consummated that victory with an actual podium, trophy and 100 World Cup points, it would have been Maier’s fourth career win at the time. He has been nursing this grudge for 47 victories over almost eight years.

Here are the big man’s 53 wins, compliments of Ski Racing’s database, still humming along in the Vermont woods:

1. Maier wins SG Garmisch 2/23/97
2. Maier wins GS Park City 11/20/97
3. Maier wins SG Beaver Creek 12/6/97
**Maier disqualified, Val d’Isere GS 12/14/97**
4. Maier wins DH Bormio 12/29/97
5. Maier wins GS Hinterstoder/Saalbach 1/6/98
6. Maier wins SG Schaldming 1/11/98
7. Maier wins GS Adelboden 1/13/98
8. Maier wins DH Wengen (Lauberhorn) 1/16/98
9. Maier wins CO Wengen (Lauberhorn) 1/18/98
10. Maier wins SG Schaldming 1/19/98
11. Maier wins SG Garmisch 2/1/98
12. Maier wins GS Soelden 10/25/98
13. Maier wins SG Val d’Isere 12/13/98
14. Maier wins SG Innsbruck 12/21/98
15. Maier wins DH Bormio 12/29/98
16. Maier wins SG Schladming 1/9/99
17. Maier wins GS Adelboden 1/12/99
18. Maier wins SG Kvitfjell 3/7/99
19. Maier wins GS Tignes 10/31/99
20. Maier wins GS Beaver Creek 11/24/99
21. Maier wins DH Beaver Creek 11/27/99
22. Maier wins SG Beaver Creek 11/28/99
23. Maier wins SG Lake Louise 12/5/99
24. Maier wins DH Chamonix 1/8/2000
25. Maier wins SG Kitzbuehel 1/21/2000
26. Maier wins DH Garmisch 1/29/2000
27. Maier wins GS Todtnau 2/5/2000
28. Maier wins SG Bormio 3/16/2000
29. Maier wins GS Solden 10/29/2000
30. Maier wins SG Lake Louise 11/26/2000
31. Maier wins DH Beaver Creek 12/2/2000
32. Maier wins DH Val d’Isere 12/9/2000
33. Maier wins GS Val d’Isere 12/10/2000
34. Maier wins GS Adelboden 1/9/2001
35. Maier wins SG Kitzbuehel 1/19/2001
36. Maier wins DH Kitzbuehel (Hahnenkamm) 1/20/2001
37. Maier wins GS Shigakogen 2/15/2001
38. Maier wins DH Kvitfjell 3/2/2001
39. Maier wins SG Kvitfjell 3/4/2001
40. Maier wins DH Are 3/8/2001
41. Maier wins GS Are 3/10/2001
42. Maier wins SG Kitzbuehel 1/27/2003
43. Maier wins SG Lake Louise 11/30/2003
44. Maier wins DH Beaver Creek 12/6/2003
45. Maier wins SG Garmisch 2/1/2004
46. Maier wins DH St Anton 2/14/2004
47. Maier wins SG Sestriere 3/11/2004
48. Maier wins SG Kitzbuehel 1/24/2005
49. Maier wins DH Kvitfjell 3/5/2005
50. Maier wins SG Kvitfjell 3/6/2005
51. Maier wins GS Solden 10/23/2005
52. Maier wins SG Kitzbuehel 1/20/2006
53. Maier wins DH Garmisch 1/28/2006

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About the Author: Pete Rugh