THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, ANCHOR: Well, Hermann Meyer dominates the sport of skiing with style and grace.
ASIEH NAMDAR, ANCHOR: Born in the Salzburg region, one of the biggest skiing areas in Austria, you might say skiing is in his blood. But while we usually see images of his tough competitive side, in an exclusive report Austria's ORF shows us the other side of this World Cup skier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA WESLEY, ORF CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Perfect midsummer weather in Flachau, just 30 minutes by car south of Salzburg. It's the hometown of Hermann Meyer, who at Nagano in 1998 had the world holding its breath.
HERMANN MEYER, CHAMPION SKIIER (THROUGH INTERPRETER): Hermann Meyer, 28 years old, height six feet, weighs 207 pounds. Astrological sign is Sagittarius, and sometimes I'm really hard headed.
WESLEY: The Herminator has little time for home life. That's why he still lives in parents' house, the only place where he can really unwind.
MEYER (THROUGH INTERPRETER): Here I can enjoy the peace and above all my mother's great cooking.
WESLEY: The trained bricklayer has singlehandedly built his own extension to the house where he grew up and finished it in Alpine style.
MEYER (THROUGH INTERPRETER): Above all, I prefer the country style. Later, perhaps, when skiing career is over, I will build my own house. Hopefully in my own style, but it will definitely be similar.
WESLEY: When Hermann manages to shake of the fans and his trainer, he indulges himself in his own special passions.
MEYER (through interpreter): After I have been training hard there is nothing I like better than lying in a jacuzzi or getting on my own motorcycle and going for a ride. That's really great.
WESLEY: And well guarded within his own four walls, there is obviously a weakness for animals.
MEYER (through interpreter): This is my house pet, a chinchilla called Puschl (ph). A few years ago I saved his life. Now he feels really at home with me. As a child I always wanted to join the circus and become a lion trainer, and then later an acrobat. We have always had pets. Before it was cats and now the chinchilla. By the way, he is really mad about television. And now he is due for a bath because he really stinks. After that, he'll throw himself around until he is really clean again.
He is fairly headstrong, and so far I have only taught him one trick, and that is eating. He prefers almonds and nuts.
WESLEY: For himself, he needs 13,000 calorie a day and iron discipline to stay at the top. He knows that luck alone is not everything.
MEYER (through interpreter): I'm not really superstitious, and it's mostly my mother who has these lucky charms. And she insists they should not be washed. Otherwise they lose their luck. If I have a bad season then we will probably wash them so the luck of earlier seasons comes back.
WESLEY: A really natural guy, not a star, no airs and graces. And Hermann Mayer is not going to change.
MEYER: I'm really concerned not to change, to stay just as I am. More than anything else, I want a little fun in my life. And I have it, too.
WESLEY: Besides sports, Hermann Meyer has a real great passion and maybe it's also the secret for his success. He's addicted to mom's homemade cakes. Nobody would believe it, so he's a real sweet guy. Andrea Wesley for CNN WORLD REPORT, Austria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RATTANSI: What a good boy.
NAMDAR: I want some of that cake
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