“I was fighting hard from the top to the bottom and it paid off.”On the Kandahar course where he had gained his first World Cup victory nearly three years, Maier captured his 26th win and equaled the Austrian record by Franz Klammer.”I really fought very hard and took a lot of risks,” Maier said “I wanted to win badly, not only because of the record. Hermann Maier is hard to beat anywhere, let alone on the slope where he launched his spectacular career. Hermann Maier is hard to beat anywhere, let alone on the slope where he launched his spectacular career.
“The Herminator” thrives in tough conditions but the Austrian ace needed all his daredevil skill to tame an icy, demanding course and a brave challenge by Italy’s Kristian Ghedina to clinch the World Cup downhill in Garmishch-Partenkirchen, Germany today.”It was the toughest downhill of the winter, it was impossible to come down without making mistakes,” Maier said. Its chief, Professor Michael Barber, blamed the mistakes on proof-readers.Taxpayers will pick up the £7,000 bill for reprinting the posters, which carried the motto “Raising Standards”.. The posters were produced by the department’s standards and effectiveness unit. Teachers have had to take down 48,000 Department for Education posters promoting literacy – because they featured two spelling mistakes.
The posters were sent out to primary schools across the country but officials failed to spot the gaffes, which included spelling the word “vocabulary” as “vocabluary”.The second mistake urged youngsters to learn about writing “though their own work” when it should have read “through”.Whitehall officials said the errors were “unforgivable”.

Teachers have had to take down 48,000 Department for Education posters promoting literacy – because they featured two spelling mistakes. “There are enough parents in Ripon who value what we have – one of the best schools in the country and another which has just been awarded technology college status,” he said.. But Debbie Atkins, of the Ripon Campaign for State Education, rejected the accusation. “It has become clear that a significant number of Ripon parents are opposed to the selective system,” she said.John Warren, of Ripon Secondary Schools Partnership, which opposes the change, insisted local people were lukewarm about the proposal.

A spokesman said ministers believed that parents should decide whether schools discriminated against less able children. “Parents in Ripon have clearly expressed their desire to vote on the future of selective admissions to Ripon Grammar School. If that is what local parents want, it is right that they should now be given that opportunity,” the spokesman said.Mr Hague’s direct interest in this ballot will make Ripon a test case for the Government’s policy, which could affect the future status of England’s remaining 164 grammar schools.Despite proposals in other areas, including the Medway in Kent, Trafford in Manchester and Barnet, north London, this is the first successful attempt to gather the 20 per cent of parental support necessary to stage a ballot.The issue has split Ripon, where the grammar school and Ripon College – the local comprehensive, recently awarded technology college status – face each other across a main road.Opponents allege that some signatures on the petition were obtained under false pretences because parents believed they were simply registering to vote. With the next general election forecast for spring 2001, the Conservatives believe Tony Blair is worried that the issue will damage his attempts to woo middle-class, centre-ground voters.But the Department for Education and Employment defended the Government’s policies.