Hermann Maier was born on 7th December 1972 in Salzburg. Then he lives in Flachau, about 70 km South of Salzburg. He started participating in races at the age of 5. His first trainer was his father Hermann Maier who owns a ski school in Flachau. That was the perfect start for his brilliant career. After 4th grade he went study to Ski Secondary Modern School in Schladming, about 30 km east of Flachau. There he became a member of the Salzburg Pupils Team and he was soon known as a big talent. Later, after 8 Grade, Hermann visited the Ski Trade School in Shladming where one of his schoolfellows was his future team colleague Christian Mayer. At the age of 15 Hermann decided to go study on a mason. But later he tried to go back to the ski slope. He worked at the family Ski School and studied to be a certified Ski Instructor. In following years he won many races. On the Olympic games in Nagano he won 2 gold medals. But in 2001 he had an accident on motorcycle and his leg was nearly amputated but the doctors cure his leg and now he is one of the best skier all over the world.