Hermann Maier (born 7 December 1972) is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist.

Participating in local races, Maier became a multiple regional champion in Salzburg and Tyrol, but still was not able to gain a spot in the strong Austrian World Cup ski team.

Through his result in Flachau he gained the attention of the ÖSV (Austrian Ski Federation) and only two days later he started in his first Europa Cup race in Les Arcs and finished in second place.

Maier soon dominated alpine ski racing, winning the gold medal in the giant slalom and super-G at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, only a few days after a dramatic crash in the downhill race where he flew spectacularly off the sunlit course, landed partially on his head, tumbled head over heels several times, and crashed through two layers of B-netting.

His racing career nearly ended following a near-fatal motorcycle accident on August 24, 2001; he collided with a car on his way home from a summer training session in Austria.

He returned to international competition in January 2003 in Adelboden, Switzerland, and two weeks later won a super-G title in the skiing-mecca of Kitzbühel, Austria.

In 2004, his first full season back, he reclaimed both the super-G and overall titles — the latter being his fourth — and received the Laureus World Sports Award for the "Comeback of the Year".

After his 1998 Olympic gold medals in Nagano he also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC – together with Austrian-born actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is known worldwide as "The Terminator".

The book, Hermann Maier: Das Rennen Meines Lebens (in German), dealt mainly with his recovery from the 2001 motorcycle accident.

On 18 January 2008, Maier finished second in the Kitzbühel's super-G, behind Marco Büchel and in front of Didier Cuche for a total podium age of 104 years.