Q&A WITH ALPINE SKIING EXPERT TINA MAZE

Are you looking forward to the first event in Soelden this weekend?
For me, it will be important because this year I will back on television so I'm very excited to follow it more closely. I'm also very curious to see how all of the athletes have prepared. I will watch very carefully and it is certainly one of the hardest giant slaloms in the whole season - and one of the hardest one to prepare and to be ready for. It's always a very challenging race.

The Women's overall prediction - who's on your list for the big globe and why?
Well, for me, the most complete skier is Mikaela Shiffrin - she has been for the last year. So, I see Petra Vlhova also as potential winner, but this competition is between them. It's the best thing we can get in sport because having such athletes fighting for the globe, that makes sport interesting.

I see many girls who can challenge but as technique I admire Mikaela - how she controls everything, how she's not too risky, how she's focused and stable on the skis. That's what I like about Mikaela, so when I see a skier stable then I'm convinced she's able to win the globe. But, of course you have to fight for it though season. Petra won't make it easy for her.

Let's look at the men’s - is Marc Odermatt beatable for the overall globe?
The most challenging thing is to stay on the top. It was for me, I never managed to win the globe again - so this is a big challenge. The way Marcel Hirscher did it was something really amazing and I hope Marco will follow on for years to come. Of course, it's not easy. You'll need to be ready all the all the time. You cannot make mistakes and I think he's ready.

After you won the globe, did you feel more pressure afterwards?
Yes, on one side, I achieved the record amount of points which was a really amazing season. It can also be tiring, especially how I did it, it's better to win over the long term and constantly than doing big peaks as I had in my in my career.

Each person is different. Everybody's reacting differently. So I can just talk about my experience, what I experienced, I don't know Marco as much as I know myself. So, it's always hard to say what's good for him and what's not good for me, for example.

Who do you see at the main contenders for Marco’s overall globe title?
Well, I hope Alexis Pinturault can do well this season. I also find it interested to see what Kristofferson did and how he's working with Marcel - I hope this will bring more competition in order to be closer together with Marco in the final placings.

It has been more than 20 years since you started competing in alpine skiing, do you feel that the sport has evolved a lot?
It is 20 years since I won my first World Cup race. Thanks to technology we can ski like we ski today. There are many things that are good. But you need to be very careful how much energy and focus you lose for such things as social media or photos. When I was skiing, I was on the ski slopes without a phone, I didn't have focus for any kind of pictures, but I believe this has changed a little bit in generations.

But I think technology and the development of skills and materials, it's always improving, it's always something new, it's always going in a direction that makes everything faster and stronger. It’s normal to develop.

But skiing is done with your body, it's not a motor, it's not a motor that you can fix. We are pushing the athletes and skiers onto higher limits and injuries that are happening in the sport of alpine skiing are too much - that's my opinion, because the body has limits. You need to know your limits, how much you can push your limits. Of course, you have to go over the limit sometimes but in a safe and not risky way, this is very tricky in alpine skiing.

How excited are you about your role with Warner Bros. Discovery or would you rather be out there skiing?
Oh no, I've done my best in my skiing career. I do train so sometimes I feel like I could still ski and beat some girls but of course I'm also a mum - I have a four year daughter - daughter and I am looking forward to being on the other side as an expert. It's a big honour first of all, I have been a little bit out of sport out of alpine skiing. I didn't follow it so much so this year for me it’s also a new beginning.

Tina Maze will be an expert for Warner Bros. Discovery's coverage of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. The 2022-23 season starts this weekend from Soelden, Austria on discovery+ (selected markets), Eurosport and Eurosport App. Check local listings for programming information.