Samuel Maier

Austrian skeleton luger Samuel Maier is just 21 years old, but has already made a huge impact on the scene with appearances at the World and European Championships.

Maier grew up in a sporting household, with his brother Benjamin having competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in the bobsled. His father and brother helped him get into the skeleton, and he still cites them as one of his greatest influences. Before taking up the skeleton luge, Maier had a brief career as an Olympic weightlifter, but its seems he made the right choice to pursue skeleton as he saw almost instant success when he first started the sport. He consistently came out on top in the Youth Olympic Games training, coming 6th overall in the competition in 2016. The following year he made his Europe Cup debut, winning both a silver and a gold medal before competing at the Intercontinental Cup in 2018 where he took home the bronze medal. Since then, Maier has enjoyed an impressive rise through the ranks, competing at the World Cup and putting in consistent performances around the world, including fifth place at the Junior World Championships in 2019. The following year he made his World Championships debut, marking himself out as one to watch over the next few years.

With recent top level performances at the European Championships, World Cup and World Championships, Maier looks set for a long and successful career, with hopes of an Olympic medal on the horizon.