Not one to mince words, she was brutally honest when asked by the events compere at the finish how she felt.
"I'm [shattered], to be honest", she said to rapturous applause and cheering.
Maier (41) had battled for the majority of the 243km journey with Ussher, not being able to pull away from her until midway through the 70km bike to the New Brighton finish.
Little separated the pair through the first two bike sections, alpine run and kayak stages, while hot on their heels, Alison Wilson (Tauranga) continued to pose a threat.
Only on the 70km bike to the finish did the jostling for position and podium steps start to take shape with time and distance spreading the trio and securing the finishing order.
Maier lifted the tape victorious in 12hr 34min 49sec, Ussher was second in 12hr 49min 25sec and Wilson third in 12hr 54min 3sec.
Maier made no secret of the fact that it was a race of redemption after being forced to withdraw when she became hypothermic while leading the race last year, when she totally focused on winning back-to-back titles. She won the title for the first time in 2019.
"I'm pretty happy," she said.
"I can't quite believe what happened. I'm still trying to find words. It's been amazing. I'm super happy, especially after last year."
Maier was full of praise for Ussher, who has won the title four times and was competing in the Longest Day for a 16th consecutive year.
"Elina had an amazing performance. Probably one of her best since I've been racing here."
Such was the pressure Ussher kept putting on Maier, that only on the bike to the finish was she able to pull away and play to her cycling strengths after Ussher had opened up a small lead on the kayak stage.
"She put a few minutes on me, but I knew as soon as I passed her that I kinda have to keep going to the finish," she said.
"You just never know. So for me it was just go, go, go. And don't look back because anything can happen. And I knew Ali Wilson would be strong on the bike, so I just gave it everything I had left to cross that line first."
The race for Maier was made even more special for the fact that it was incident-free.
Her victory two years ago came after she crashed into the back of a camper van during the 15km bike stage between Klondyke and Mount White Bridge Last year she had to surrender the lead and withdraw because of safety concerns.
Greymouth's Emma Wilson (17) displayed her credentials for a possible step up to the Longest Day competition when she completed a convincing victory in the women's section of the two-day event in 13hr 26min 54sec.
- Wayne Parsons
