VIENNA, 21 May 2003 — Alpine skiing’s two great rivals, Austrians Hermann Maier and Stephan Eberharter, are poised to fight each other for supremacy one last time next season.
The 34-year-old Eberharter, overall World Cup champion the last two seasons, hinted strongly to Austrian daily Kleine Zeitung yesterday that he will race one more season, although an official decision has still not been made.
The giant slalom gold medalist at the Salt Lake Games is also listed as heading the new men’s national squad for next season which starts on an Austrian glacier in October.
Eberharter tagging on another season is good news for a sport which has been hit by a loss of spectators and sponsorship.
The two Austrians waged war on the slopes before triple World Cup champion Maier’s career was interrupted after a motorcycle accident in August 2001 almost cost him a leg.
While Maier, a double Olympic champion, was injured Eberharter stepped out of his shadow and dominated the 2001/02 season much like his rival had the previous four years.
Against the odds and following a laborious rehabilitation marked by many setbacks, Maier made a spectacular comeback to the dangerous sport in January this year when he won a World Cup super-G in Kitzbuehel.
Smacking of a revival of the Maier-Eberharter duel, the 30-year-old former bricklayer went on to capture silver in the same discipline at the world championships in St. Moritz in February — beaten to gold by none other than Eberharter.
Maier then ended his season early to make room for an operation on his reconstructed right leg and Eberharter, the second-oldest competitor on the World Cup, left his fans guessing whether he was unclipping his skis for good.
Maier said he would prefer it if Eberharter retired. “Because that would be one rival fewer,” he told Austrian state television ORF on Monday. “But to be honest, I couldn’t care less as there are so many other candidates for World Cup wins that it’s difficult to say who will gain the edge.
“I’m pretty far behind (the rest) and have got to see that I get back to form myself.” Maier is not expecting much from his first full season back on the World Cup, although the surprise victory in Kitzbuehel has made him hope for another.
Recapturing the overall World Cup crown was also too soon to aim for.
“I haven’t given that a moment’s thought yet. But it’s not my main aim at this junction as I’m simply skiing too badly,” he said.
“The 2006 Olympics are certainly an issue for me. I’ll be pleased if the next few years go well and then we’ll see.”
