"Thank you for this lovely warm welcome, even the weather is nice today. I'm happy to be here with you. We finally have the opportunity to party together. I wish I had a certain something to hoist above my head, but I have something hanging around my neck instead," pointed out Slovenia's best alpine skier when addressing the crowd.

Maze ended up losing the battle for the overall crystal globe against Anna Fenniger from Austria by a hair's breadth but had won two gold medals at the world championship in Vail.

Members of her aMaze team joined Maze on stage: team leader Andrea Massi, ski technician Andrea Vianello, coach Valerio Ghirardi in physical therapist Nežka Poljanšek. President of Slovenia Borut Pahor also decided to honour the ski champion with his presence. He gave her a bouquet and commented the rumours about this past season being Maze's final one: "Everyone has been wondering if Tina plans to end her career, but I say: Tina is timeless."

A. V., MMC; translated by K. Z.