"This is actually quite powerful. I'm aware of this now," Maze told the STA on the sidelines of the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she has been cheering young athletes.

"I thought Mikaela will surpass my score easily, because there is no world championship (this season) and because there are many more World Cup events, whereas when I achieved this we had a world championship in between, which meant no World Cup races for two weeks and thus fewer points.

"What is happening to Mikaela actually only confirms how exceptional my season was. It was unique. But I knew that if I ever make sports history with records in Alpine skiing it will be in a single season, because I was too far behind in my career until 2013."

Still, becoming an Olympic champion in Sochi in 2014 was exquisite for Maze. "I see it rather as a higher force, something more ..."

She thinks the Olympics are a "tradition that is extremely powerful for all contenders" but notices that the young see it in a quite negative way.

"Some comments on sports are negative. Perhaps people are too negative in general and then sometimes beautiful things such as the Olympics, sports and the purity of sports get lost somewhat," she said.

"I see them as very pure and I stand by that. That is why for me becoming an Olympic champion was something ... powerful."

Maze is in Lausanne to inspire young athletes at the invitation of the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, who presented her with the torch that was used to carry the Olympic flame at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010.

"Now that I've finished my career, I'd like to transfer (my knowledge, experience) to younger generations."

"I think it's great others can learn on. I've learned from ... Mateja Svet, (Primož) Peterka, (Alberto) Tomba, Vreni Schneider and others have learned from me. So it's all a kind of an evolving Olympic circuit."

Although her focus now is on her daughter Anouk that she has with her former coach Andrea Massi, Maze still keeps track of the successes of Slovenian skiers, particularly Žan Kranjec and Ilka Štuhec, cheering for them and wishing them all the best.