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A wax double of ski legend Hermann Maier is the latest addition to the Viennese Madame Tussauds wax museum. Maier is the third ski star that receives their double act in the museum that was opened five months ago on 1st April 2011. His double act was revealed in Vienna on Friday, 9th September.

"We select the prominent personalities on the basis of public requests. Hence it is no wonder that our latest attraction is the double Olympic champion Hermann Maier, after all he is one of the most loved athletes in Austria, " said Arabella Kruschinski, General Manager of Madame Tussauds Wien.

The ski legend met with the team of artists for the so-called 'sitting' already in September 2010. The appointment lasted three hours as no fewer than 500 precise measurements were taken of Maier's head and body, along with hundreds of photos from all perspectives, in order to represent even the minutest details in the wax version. In addition, the position, clothing, facial impressions and precise skin, hair and eye nuances were defined. It took four weeks to then perfect the hair, whilst painting the eyes required 14 hours of manual labor. 

"Now I know how it feels to get all 'waxed up'. And of course I am happy to see that I am a good-looking guy," said Hermann Maier whose wax double is wearing the original race suit Maier wore when he was racing at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Are in 2007.

The first Austrian ski star who received their wax double in Vienna was speed queen Renate Götschl, who was followed by Franz Klammer.

Madame Tussauds is present besides the original museum in London also in Blackpool, Hollywood, New York, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Amsterdam, Berlin, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok and Vienna.

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