Maze is the most successful Slovenian ski racer in history with a career that culminated with two gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[2] She was awarded the title of the Slovenian Sportswoman of the Year in 2005, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015, and with her four medals she is the most decorated Slovenian athlete at the Winter Olympics.[3]
Maze started her career as a giant slalom specialist, but later competed in all five alpine skiing disciplines. She is one of seven female racers who has won in all five World Cup disciplines and one of three to do so in a single season. Maze is the 2014 Olympic champion in downhill and giant slalom and the 2015 world champion in downhill and combined. She was also the world champion in giant slalom in 2011[4] and super-G in 2013.
Maze won a total of 26 World Cup races during her career,[5] and won the World Cup overall title in 2013.[6] In that season, she won 11 races and tallied a record number of World Cup points – 2414,[7] beating the previous record of Hermann Maier of 2000 points from the 2000 season.[8] She also won the super-G and giant slalom titles, and finished first in the combined event (although no globe was awarded) and finished second in slalom and downhill. Maze also improved Maier's previous record of podium finishes in a single season (22) with 24 podiums.
Early years
Maze made her World Cup debut at age 15 in Slovenia in January 1999, in a giant slalom race at Maribor. During her early World Cup seasons, Maze competed in slalom, giant slalom, and super-G, but scored World Cup points only in the first two disciplines. At the 2001 World Championships, Maze's best result was a 16th place in slalom. In January 2002, Maze won her first podium, a second place in giant slalom in Maribor.[9] At the 2002 Winter Olympics in the United States, Maze finished twelfth in the giant slalom in her Olympic debut at Park City, Utah.[10]
2003–2004 seasons
On 26 October 2002, Maze won her first World Cup race at the season opener in Sölden, Austria. She shared the giant slalom win with Nicole Hosp of Austria and Andrine Flemmen of Norway in the first-ever a three-way tie in a World Cup race.[11] Maze finished the 2003 season on the 38th place in the overall standings with 190 points, all in giant slalom. At the 2003 World Championships, she finished 5th in giant slalom.[9]
In the 2004 season, Maze scored one podium, a runner-up position in giant slalom, and finished 33rd in the overall standings with 244 points. She scored her first points in super-G and started competing in downhill races.[9]
2005–2008 seasons
The 2005 season was a successful season for Maze as she won 3 giant slalom races and scored two super-G podiums, both 3rd places. She finished the season 10th in the overall standings with 650 points: 366 in giant slalom, where she finished fourth. At the 2005 World Championships Maze finished sixth in super-G and 10th in the combined.[9]
In the 2006 season, Maze won one giant slalom race and two more podiums, a third place in giant slalom and a runner-up position in super-G. She finished the season 14th in the overall standings with 525 points and scored World Cup points in all disciplines for the first time. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Maze competed in the giant slalom and super-G events, where she finished 12th and 39th, respectively.[12]
The 2007 season was not as successful for her as the previous two seasons, with only 3 top 10 finishes. She finished the season 30th in the overall standings with 268 points. At the 2007 World Championships, Maze's best result was a 14th place in super-G.[9]
In February 2008, Maze won her first downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, which was the first downhill victory won by a Slovenian female skier. It was also her first non-giant slalom victory. She finished the 2008 season 28th overall with 287 points.[9]
Following the declining results in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Maze decided to break with the national ski team and founded her personal "Team to aMAZE" with her coach and partner Andrea Massi.[13] This move turned out to be a decisive step in Maze's career as her results began to improve significantly. In the 2009 Alpine Skiing World Cup, Maze scored two wins, both in giant slalom, in Maribor, Slovenia, and in Åre, Sweden. She also won three more podiums, finishing second in downhill and was third twice in super-G. At the 2009 World Championships in Val-d'Isère, France, Maze won a silver medal in giant slalom, her first medal in a "big competition." In that race, she was only 15th after the first run but excelled in the second, "because she was angry."[11] In addition to the silver medal, Maze finished 14th in the downhill and fifth in the super-G. Maze concluded the 2009 season sixth in the overall standings with 852 points, her best result to that date. She also finished third in the giant slalom standings.[9]
In the 2010 season, Maze won one giant slalom race and had runner-up finishes in slalom and giant slalom. That season, Maze had fifteen top 10 results and finished fourth in the overall standings. Again, she finished third in the giant slalom standings.[9]
Maze began the 2011 season strong with several good results and podiums. That season, she won the first races in her career in super combined (Tarvisio, Italy) and slalom (Lenzerheide, Switzerland). She finished on podium six more times. Maze finished the 2011 season third in the overall standings with 1139 points.[9]
The 2012 season was a very interesting one as Maze had no victories but had ten podium finishes. She finished the season second in the overall standings with 1402 points, behind Lindsey Vonn of United States.[9]
2013: The record breaking season
Maze at a press conference, 2014
Maze started the 2013 season with a win in giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. She then won the 2nd giant slalom in Aspen, United States, followed by two wins in St.Moritz, Switzerland, both in giant slalom and super combined. She then won again in giant slalom in Courchevel, France making it 4 wins out of the first 4 races in this discipline. She collected 11 podiums till the New Year, with five wins, two 2nd and four 3rd places, gaining a sizable lead in the overall standings. She also broke the records for most points in a calendar year (2,180) and most podiums (19) in a calendar year. Her first victory in super-G on 13 January 2013 in St. Anton made her a member of the small group of all-event winners in alpine skiing. On 26 January, Maze finished second in giant slalom in Maribor to clinch her first World Cup title in GS, then won the slalom the following day.[9]
On 24 February, she won the second super combined of the season in Méribel, France, and secured the overall World Cup title with nine races remaining.[15] Despite having the most points in super combined standings, the crystal globe for this discipline is no longer awarded due to a lack of events.[16]
On 1 March, Maze finished second in super-G in Garmisch, her 19th podium of the season, breaking the previous ladies' record. The next day, she won the downhill to record a win in all disciplines in a single season, previously accomplished by only two female skiers. In this race, Maze also surpassed 2,000 World Cup points in a single season and therefore broke Hermann Maier's record from the 2000 season, which was exactly 2,000 points. The last downhill race of the season at the World Cup finals was cancelled, so Maze finished as runner-up in the downhill standings, a single point behind Lindsey Vonn, whose season had ended in February after a knee injury at the World Championships. The last super-G race was also cancelled and Maze won the super-G title. In the last race, a giant slalom on 17 March, she gained her eleventh victory of the season and finished with a record 2,414 points.[17][9]
Maze broke various statistical records in this season. They include the highest number of podiums in a single season (24, record previously held by Hermann Maier (22) and by Hanni Wenzel and Pernilla Wiberg for ladies (18)), highest number of top 5 finishes (31, previously Hermann Maier and Pernilla Wiberg (24)), highest number of points after first 10 races (677, previously Katja Seizinger, 643), highest percent of possible points won (69%, previously 61% by Pernilla Wiberg), and the highest point difference to the second-placed skier (1313, compared to 743 for Hermann Maier and 578 for Lindsey Vonn). In fact, Maze collected more World Cup points than second and third skier combined.[18] Maze finished on podium in all Giant slalom events of the season, a feature previously achieved only by Vreni Schneider in the 1989 season. She is also the only woman to remain at the top of the overall ranking throughout the season – a feature only achieved at men's Cup by Bode Miller.[18] In addition to the overall title, Maze won the super-G and giant slalom titles, finished at the top of the combined list by winning both races in the season, and finished second in the downhill and slalom listing. The titles went to Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, respectively. She also came extremely close to sweeping all 6 titles, losing the downhill title to Vonn by a mere 1 point with the seasons final race cancelled due to bad weather, and where Maze would have needed only a top 15 finish to pass the injured Vonn. Shiffrin needed to beat Maze in the seasons final slalom race to steal away the season slalom title from points leader Maze, and overcome an over second deficit on Maze after the first run to do so.[18]
Maze came to the 2013 World Championships in Schladming, Austria, as a favorite. At the time, she was the leader in the World Cup standings in three of the five disciplines (giant slalom, super-G, and super combined), second in slalom and third in downhill. Several former alpine skiers stated that she is capable of winning a medal in every single discipline.[19][20] In the first race at Planai, Maze won the gold medal in super-G[21] and three days later won the silver medal in super combined.[22] She then finished seventh in downhill, won another silver medal in giant slalom, and took fifth in slalom.[9]
In October 2013, Maze was awarded the Skieur d'Or Award by members of the International Association of Ski Journalists for her record-breaking performances during the previous season, thereby becoming the first Slovenian skier to receive the honour since its inception in 1963.[23]
Maze started the 2014 season less successfully, with one victory and three more podiums before the Winter Olympics in February. The decline in results was partially attributed to the change of the coach from the previous season, when Walter Ronconi replaced Livio Magoni. In January 2014, Ronconi was replaced by Mauro Pini, who, according to Maze's team, brought a positive change to the team.[24] Following the Olympics, Maze won two more podiums, two third places. At the end of the season, she was completely exhausted and finished the last races with difficulties, having fulfilled her goals with two Olympic gold medals.[25] She won a third place in the downhill standings and finished 4th overall.[9]
At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Maze finished fourth in the super combined at Rosa Khutor. The second event was the downhill, where Maze tied for first place with Dominique Gisin of Switzerland. This was the first gold medal for Slovenia at any Winter Olympics and the first time that a gold medal was shared at an Olympic alpine skiing event.[26] Maze finished fifth in super-G, won another gold in the giant slalom,[27] and was eighth in the slalom. Following her Olympic success, Maze was nominated for the Laureus Award for the second year in a row.[28]
2015 season
Maze in 2017, shortly before her retirement
The start of the 2015 season was stronger than the previous year's for Maze. Winning three races and four additional podiums, Maze came to the 2015 World Championships in Vail / Beaver Creek, Colorado, United States, as the overall World Cup leader[29] and was, as in 2013, seen as a potential candidate to win a medal in all five disciplines.[30] She took silver in the super-G race, continued with winning gold both in downhill and super-combined and then finished 5th in giant slalom and 8th in slalom, what was her best overall performance at World Championships.[9]
Following the World Championships, Maze was tired and did not finish any of the two races in Maribor, which meant that she started to lose advantage over Anna Fenninger.[31] Final races of the season were a close battle between Maze and Fenninger. Maze won six more podiums until the end of the season and was leading 18 points in the overall standings before the last race but Fenninger won the last giant slalom and defended her overall title from the 2014 season.[32] Maze finished the season second, with her second-highest number of season points. She also finished third in the slalom, super-G, and downhill standings. At the end of the season, Maze hinted that she may retire from competitive sport in the following months.[33]
Retirement
In May 2015, Maze announced that she would take a break from the sport for a year, not competing in the 2015–16 season and focusing on her studies instead.[34] On 20 October 2016 in Sölden, Maze announced her retirement from competitive skiing.[35] She officially concluded her career on 7 January 2017 at the giant slalom race in Maribor, at the venue where she made her World Cup debut in 1999.[36]
When not competing or training abroad, Maze lives in Črna na Koroškem. She is in a relationship with Andrea Massi, who is also the head of Maze's team.[37] In November 2017, they announced they are expecting a child together.[38] She gave birth to a girl in February 2018.[39][40]
During the year-long break from competing, Maze concluded her studies at the Faculty of Education, University of Maribor, obtaining an elementary school teacher degree.[42]
A Crystal globes in combined have not been officially awarded for 2013 season. However, athletes still get their medals.
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