Tina Maze

Tina Maze (Slovene: [ˈtiːna ˈmaːzɛ]; born 2 May 1983) is a retired Slovenian World Cup alpine ski racer. She is the most successful Slovenian ski racer in history with a career that culminated with two gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Maze 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.

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 and super-G in 2013.

Maze won a total of 26 World Cup races during her career, and won the World Cup overall title in 2013. In that season, she won 11 races and tallied a record number of World Cup points – 2414, beating the previous record of Hermann Maier of 2000 points from the 2000 season. 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.

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. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in the United States, Maze finished twelfth in the giant slalom in her Olympic debut at Park City, Utah.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.