Alberto Tomba

Medal record
Tomba at Snow Queen Trophy Zagreb 2009
Competitor for  Italy
Men's alpine skiing
Olympic Games
Gold	1988 Calgary	Slalom
Gold	1988 Calgary	Giant slalom
Gold	1992 Albertville	Giant slalom
Silver	1992 Albertville	Slalom
Silver	1994 Lillehammer	Slalom
World Championships
Gold	1996 Sierra Nevada	Slalom
Gold	1996 Sierra Nevada	Giant Slalom
Bronze	1987 Crans-Montana	Giant Slalom
Bronze	1997 Sestriere	Slalom

Alberto Tomba (born December 19, 1966) is a retired champion alpine ski racer from Italy. He was the dominant technical skier (slalom and giant slalom) in the late 1980s and 1990s. Tomba won three Olympic gold medals, two World Championships, and nine World Cup season titles; four in slalom, four in giant slalom, and one overall title. He was popularly called Tomba la Bomba ("Tomba the Bomb").

Biography

Early years

Tomba was born in Castel de Britti, San Lazzaro di Savena, between Ozzano dell'Emilia and Bologna — an area without strong alpine traditions, but not far from the appenninic piste of Monte Cimone and Corno alle Scale. As a child, he participated in sports like tennis, soccer, and dirt biking, but he found that his greatest passion was for skiing.

In 1981 he took part in the Junior World Championships, where a fourth-place finish won him a position on the national B team. That year, in a parallel slalom exhibition in San Siro, Milan, he surprised everyone by beating every member of the A team. After three wins on the Europa Cup circuit, the 19-year-old Tomba made his World Cup debut in 1985 at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. One year later, in Åre, Sweden, he surprised the skiing world by finishing sixth from the 62nd starting position. His first podium came in Alta Badia, Italy at the beginning of the 1987 season, and later that winter he won bronze in the giant slalom at the 1987 World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Rise to fame as Olympic champion

On November 27, 1987, Tomba scored his first World Cup victory, in a slalom at Sestriere, Italy. Two days later he won the giant slalom, beating his idol, Ingemar Stenmark. It was now clear that Tomba was a force to be reckoned with in the alpine skiing world.

He went on to win nine races that season, winning the World Cup titles in both slalom and giant slalom, but he finished second to Swiss legend Pirmin Zurbriggen in the overall standings. During this early part of his career, Tomba also competed in super G, an event he would continue to run until 1989 despite never finishing better than fourth.

At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Tomba won gold medals in both slalom and giant slalom for Italy. In the first run of the giant, he finished impressive 1.14 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. He also earned some notoriety by asking out East German figure skater Katarina Witt, who he met again later on.

Tomba was not as successful in the following two seasons, winning a total of four World Cup races. At the 1989 World Championships in Vail, Colorado, he could do no better than sixth place in the super G and a dismaying seventh in the giant slalom. From 1989 to the end of his career, Tomba was surrounded by his own technical staff managed by former champion Gustav Thöni and condition trainer Giorgio d'Urbano, who patiently worked with him during ten seasons.

In the 1991 season, Tomba returned to his winning ways, winning the giant slalom World Cup title for a second time while finishing fourth in the slalom standings. He ended a disappointing 4th in slalom at the 1991 World Championships at Saalbach-Hinterglemm (Austria) and crashed in the second giant slalom run after having clocked the fastest time in the first leg, handing the victory to Austria's Rudolf Nierlich, the two-time winner at Vail, Colorado, two years earlier. In September 1991, he also met former Miss Italy, Martina Colombari, who he dated afterwards during several years. Colombari, a beautiful model from Riccione, became a successful TV announcer and finally married famous Italian soccer player Billy Costacurta.

Tomba's career reached its second peak during the 1992 season with nine victories and fifteen podiums, and he once again captured the season-long discipline titles in both his technical specialties. His duel with Paul Accola for the overall World Cup crown extended until the very end of the season and the Finals at Crans-Montana, but the Swiss skier scoring points in all disciplins including downhill and combineds ultimately prevailed. At the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, Tomba won what was to be his last gold medal at Val d'Isère, in the giant slalom, and picked up a silver in the slalom thanks to a spectacular second run. In Val d'Isère, he became the first alpine champion to successfully defend an Olympic title when he won the giant slalom ahead of Marc Girardelli.

The 1993 World Championships, held in Morioka, Japan, again proved to be his nemesis. Tomba was suffering from a fever during the giant slalom and made a critical mistake in the slalom, failing to reach the podium in either race. To make matters worse, he only managed to win a single World Cup race in the entire 1993 season.

Overall World Cup champion

Tomba was back to his usual ways at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. After the first run of the slalom, he was seemingly out of medal contention, 1.84 seconds behind leader Thomas Stangassinger, but a stunning second run rocketed him to second place and a silver medal.

It soon became apparent that the 1995 World Cup season would be his best yet. From December 1994 to March 1995, he amassed an astounding 11 victories in the technical events including seven in a row in slalom to finally capture the overall World Cup title that had eluded him in years past and bringing the Crystal Globe back to Italy, twenty years after Gustav Thöni's last title in 1975.

At the 1996 World Championships, Tomba finally added the final missing pieces to his trophy case, winning two gold medals at Sierra Nevada, Spain. His GS victory came thanks to a second-run rally from 0.81 seconds behind.

After the 1996 World Championships, Tomba began contemplating retirement. He decided to come back for one more World Championship, held in 1997 on his home snow in Sestriere. He was disqualified in the giant slalom and had a disappointing first run in the slalom, but an excellent second run was good enough for his last major medal, a bronze. He decided to continue competing for one more year.

Tomba's performance at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano was a sign that his career was winding to a close: for the first time in his Olympic career, he failed to medal after crashing badly in giant slalom. He suffered a painful injury and didn't manage to start in the second slalom run after losing much time in the first leg.

Alberto Tomba retired at the end of the 1998 season, but not before winning a last World Cup race at the Finals at Crans-Montana where he grabbed the slalom, becoming the only alpine male skier to have won at least one World Cup race per year for 11 consecutive seasons. Sweden's skiing legend Ingemar Stenmark won tons of World Cup races from December 1974 to March 1984 but failed to do so during the 1985 season, dominated by Marc Girardelli from Luxembourg and Swiss Ace Pirmin Zurbriggen.

Medals

Winter Olympic Games

• 3 gold, 2 silver (see table)

Alpine World Ski Championships

• 1987, Crans Montana: bronze in giant slalom
• 1996, Sierra Nevada: gold in giant slalom, gold in the slalom
• 1997, Sestriere: bronze in slalom

Alpine skiing World Cup

• 50 victories (35 in slalom, 15 in giant slalom), including 7 consecutive slalom wins in 1994-95.
• 28 second-place finishes
• 11 third-place finishes

Season titles

Race victories

Date	Location	Race
November 27, 1987	Sestriere	Slalom
November 29, 1987	Sestriere	Giant Slalom
December 13, 1987	Alta Badia	Giant Slalom
December 16, 1987	Madonna di Campiglio	Slalom
December 20, 1987	Kranjska Gora	Slalom
January 17, 1988	Bad Kleinkirchheim	Slalom
January 19, 1988	Saas Fee	Giant Slalom
March 19, 1988	Åre	Slalom
March 22, 1988	Oppdal	Slalom
December 11, 1988	Madonna di Campiglio	Slalom
November 29, 1989	Waterville Valley, NH	Slalom
March 8, 1990	Geilo	Slalom
March 12, 1990	Sälen	Slalom
December 11, 1990	Sestriere	Slalom
December 16, 1990	Alta Badia	Giant Slalom
December 21, 1990	Kranjska Gora	Giant Slalom
March 1, 1991	Lillehammer	Giant Slalom
March 9, 1991	Aspen, CO	Giant Slalom
March 21, 1991	Waterville Valley, NH	Giant Slalom
November 23, 1991	Park City, UT	Giant Slalom
November 24, 1991	Park City, UT	Slalom
December 10, 1991	Sestriere	Slalom
December 15, 1991	Alta Badia	Giant Slalom
January 5, 1992	Kranjska Gora	Slalom
January 19, 1992	Kitzbühel	Slalom
January 26, 1992	Wengen	Slalom
March 20, 1992	Crans-Montana	Giant Slalom
March 22, 1992	Crans-Montana	Slalom
January 9, 1993	Garmisch	Slalom
December 5, 1993	Stoneham	Slalom
December 14, 1993	Sestriere	Slalom
January 30, 1994	Chamonix	Slalom
February 6, 1994	Garmisch	Slalom
December 4, 1994	Tignes	Slalom
December 12, 1994	Sestriere	Slalom
December 20, 1994	Lech am Arlberg	Slalom
December 21, 1994	Lech am Arlberg	Slalom
December 22, 1994	Alta Badia	Giant Slalom
January 6, 1995	Kranjska Gora	Giant Slalom
January 8, 1995	Garmisch	Slalom
January 15, 1995	Kitzbühel	Slalom
January 22, 1995	Wengen	Slalom
February 4, 1995	Adelboden	Giant Slalom
March 18, 1995	Bormio	Giant Slalom
December 19, 1995	Madonna di Campiglio	Slalom
December 22, 1995	Kranjska Gora	Slalom
January 7, 1996	Flachau	Slalom
January 30, 1997	Schladming	Slalom
January 8, 1998	Schladming	Slalom
March 15, 1998	Crans Montana	Slalom

External links

• Alberto Tomba.com - official site
• FIS-Ski: Alberto Tomba – statistics
• FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - Alberto Tomba - 1986-98
• Ski-db.com - results - Alberto Tomba
• Videos of Tomba's Calgary Olympics victories
• SKI magazine - Alberto Tomba - Jan-2009 - p.87