I'm not talking about the way they won - Marcel Hirscher won the gold after placing 30th before going into the slalom, while Tina Maze was already in the lead after the faster downhill part of the event – but about the state of today's skiing. There seems to be no more room for skiers capable of competing in all of the ski disciplines (both in the men's and women's circuit).

Now let’s leap back a decade. In the 2004/2005 season Anja Pärson won the big crystal globe. It was one of the closest races to the title, as she beat her rival Janica Kostelič by only three points. Both were versatile skiers who managed to place in the top 30 in each of the ski disciplines. Apart from those two the only other skiers to do so were Marlies Schild, Julia Mancuso and Martina Ertl. Only ten skiers altogether managed to win points in each ski discipline.

And what about this year? Only one skier has won points in all of the ski disciplines. That's the skier that won herself a third medal on Monday after three days of competition at the skiing world championships. She's now in the company of Anja Pärson and Marielle Goitschel as the only skiers to have become world champions in four different disciplines. A good month before the end of this year's ski season Tina Maze is also in the top 5 in all of the individual World Cup ski standings.

The disappearance of all-around skiers can also be noticed in the men's circuit. Because of the even bigger competition among male skiers there have never been many heroes capable of skiing extremely well on both downhill and slalom skis. But in the 2010/2011 there were 6 competitors winning points in all of the ski disciplines (Ivica Kostelić, Silvan Zurbriggen, Ted Ligety, Benjamin Raich, Kjetil Jansrud and Ondrej Bank). This year the only one to have managed the feat is Ted Ligety. However he's not even close to being as competitive in all the disciplines as Tina Maze is. The three-time world champion from Schladming has won 322 points in his favourite giant slalom discipline, while only 53 points in the remaining three.

Why the trend? Why is Tina Maze the last great all-around skier? According to Igor Tominec, the early specialization in only one discipline is to blame for it all. "Skiers today start focusing on only those disciplines in which they achieve the best results. They do that way too early. Already as youths, skiers put everything into the races instead of spreading their skiing repertoire. And then when they make it in the national team, it is no longer possible to reverse the process," is convinced Mr. Tominec, a sports editor at the Val 202 radio station.

TV Slovenija commentator Tomaž Hudomalj has a similar view. "It's very demanding for a skier to be competitive in all disciplines. The slalom and the downhill are two totally different disciplines. Alpine skiing – as the majority of other sports – is moving forward every year and developing. As a consequence one has to specialize for a certain group of related disciplines. In addition the World Cup ski calendar is so packed that it's simply impossible to keep up the rhythm."

This is where the main force behind Tina's success is - Andrea Massi. The Italian expert doesn't have a background in alpine skiing. His specialty is physical preparation. After only a few years of working with Tina he has managed to create a machine capable of withstanding incredible physical pressure. Building up Tina's physical condition was a gradual process, which would have otherwise led to injuries. The rest is history, in which fans are allowed to relive the incredible victories, journalists are allowed to put together new word phrases, while statisticians can confirm the new records.

Igor Tominec's thoughts open up an important topic, which doesn't only touch on skiing and sports, but also on society and education. Everyone would like to become an instant winner. Even at an early age, when things shouldn’t be focused on the hunt for gold, but on reinforcing knowledge and polishing techniques.