Alberto Tomba

Alberto Tomba (born 19 December 1966 in San Lazzaro di Savena) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Italy. He was the dominant technical skier (slalom and giant slalom) in the late 1980s and 1990s. At 6 ft tall and 90 kg, his powerful build was a contrast to the lighter, more traditional technical skiers who prioritised agility over muscle. Tomba was able to take advantage of the introduction of spring-loaded ski gates which replaced the older, solid gates in the early 1980s by using his power to maintain a faster, more direct line through courses.[1] 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").[2]

Alberto Tomba
Alpine skier
Tomba in 2006 (age 40)
DisciplinesSlalom, Giant Slalom,
Super G
ClubC.S. Carabinieri
Born (1966-12-19) 19 December 1966
San Lazzaro di Savena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
World Cup debut16 December 1985
(age 18)
RetiredMarch 1998 (age 31)
Websitealbertotomba.it
Olympics
Teams4 (198898)
Medals5 (3 gold)
World Championships
Teams6 (198797)
Medals4 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons13 (1985–98)
Wins50 (15 GS, 35 SL)
Podiums88 (31 GS, 57 SL)
Overall titles1 (1995)
Discipline titles8 (4 GS, 4 SL)

Early years

Alberto Tomba was born in Bologna and raised in Castel de Britti, a village in the municipality of San Lazzaro di Savena – an area without strong alpine traditions, but not far from the appenninic piste of Monte Cimone and Corno alle Scale. His father Franco, a businessman in the textile industry, had been a keen skier since attending college in Switzerland and passed his love of the sport to his sons, driving Alberto and his older brother Marco from their home to Sestola so they could ski. Alberto learned to ski at the age of three and started racing at the age of seven.[1] As a child, he participated in sports like tennis, soccer, and dirt biking, but he found that his greatest passion was for skiing.

In 1984 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 an exhibition parallel slalom competition in San Siro, Milan, he surprised everyone by beating every member of the A team. After three wins on the Europa Cup circuit, Tomba made his World Cup debut in December 1985 at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, three days before his nineteenth birthday. Two months later, in Åre, Sweden, he surprised the skiing world by finishing sixth from a bib number of 62. His first podium came the following season in Alta Badia, Italy in December 1986, and later that winter he won bronze in the giant slalom at the 1987 World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland - the only medal won by the Italian team at that World Championships.[1]

Rise to fame

On 27 November 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 within the alpine skiing world.[3]

He went on to win nine races that 1988 season, including a slalom win at Madonna di Campiglio where he beat the second-placed finisher by 1.34 seconds, shouting "I am the new messiah of skiing!" as he crossed the finish line.[1] He won that year's World Cup titles in both slalom and giant slalom, but was runner-up in the overall standings to Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland. During this early part of his career, Tomba also competed in super G, an event he would continue to contest until 1989, despite never finishing better than fourth.[4]

At the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Tomba won gold medals in slalom and giant slalom.[5] In the first run of the GS, he finished an impressive 1.14 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. "Tomba la Bomba" ("Tomba the Bomb"), as he was known, also earned some notoriety by asking out East German figure skater Katarina Witt, whom 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 seventh in the giant slalom. From 1989 to the end of his career, Tomba was surrounded by his own technical staff managed by former Olympic champion Gustav Thöni and strength and conditioning coach Giorgio d'Urbano, who worked with him for ten seasons.

Tomba was temporarily put out of action in 1990 when he crashed in a World Cup race in Val-d'Isère, breaking his collarbone.[1] However, 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 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, whom he dated for several years.

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 disciplines including downhill and combined 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. 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 in Bormio with the World Cup won 1995.

Tomba was back to his usual ways at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. After his slalom run, he was seemingly out of medal contention, (placed 12th) 1.84 seconds behind leader Thomas Stangassinger (and 1.00 behind place 3, Peter Roth), but in the second run he recovered to second place and won the 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 impressive 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,[6] 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.[7]

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 in giant slalom. He suffered a painful injury and was not able to start in the second slalom run after losing much time in the first leg.[8]

Alberto Tomba retired at the end of the 1998 season,[9] 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.

Later in life

At the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Turin, Tomba brought the Olympic Flame into the stadium where he handed it off to the men's 4 × 10 km gold medalists from the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer (De Zolt, Albarello, Vanzetta, Fauner). During the 2010 edition of "Sport Movies & TV - Milano International FICTS Fest" he was awarded with "Excellence Guirlande D'Honneur" and entered in the FICTS "Hall of Fame".[10]

Today, he says he likes sleeping and is passionate about automatic car washes where he likes to go at night when there's no queue[11]

Medals

Winter Olympic Games

Alpine World Ski championships

  • 1987: bronze in giant slalom at Crans Montana, Switzerland.
  • 1996: gold in giant slalom, gold in slalom at Sierra Nevada, Spain.
  • 1997: bronze in slalom at Sestriere, Italy

Alpine skiing World Cup

  • 50 victories (35 in slalom, 15 in giant slalom), including seven consecutive slalom wins in the 1995 season.
  • 28-second-place finishes
  • 11 third-place finishes

World Cup results

Season standings

SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
Slalom
Super GDownhillCombined
19861951392319
1987201524918
1988212118
1989223277
1990239214
199124261
19922521143
199326522
1994273111
199528111
199629528
199730255
19983114713

Season titles

  • 9 titles (1 overall, 4 giant slalom, 4 slalom)
Season Discipline
1988Giant Slalom
Slalom
1991Giant Slalom
1992Giant Slalom
Slalom
1994Slalom
1995Overall
Giant Slalom
Slalom

Race victories

  • 50 wins (15 GS, 35 SL)
  • 88 podiums (31 GS, 57 SL)[12]
Season Date Location Race
198827 November 1987Sestriere, ItalySlalom
29 November 1987Giant Slalom
13 December 1987Alta Badia, ItalyGiant Slalom
16 December 1987Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom
20 December 1987Kranjska Gora, SloveniaSlalom
17 January 1988Bad Kleinkirchheim, AustriaSlalom
19 January 1988Saas Fee, SwitzerlandGiant Slalom
19 March 1988Åre, SwedenSlalom
22 March 1988Oppdal, NorwaySlalom
198911 December 1988Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom
199029 November 1989Waterville Valley, USSlalom
8 March 1990Geilo, NorwaySlalom
12 March 1990Sälen, SwedenSlalom
199111 December 1990Sestriere, ItalySlalom
16 December 1990Alta Badia, ItalyGiant Slalom
21 December 1990Kranjska Gora, SloveniaGiant Slalom
1 March 1991Lillehammer, NorwayGiant Slalom
9 March 1991Aspen, USAGiant Slalom
21 March 1991Waterville Valley, USAGiant Slalom
199223 November 1991Park City, USAGiant Slalom
24 November 1991Slalom
10 December 1991Sestriere, ItalySlalom
15 December 1991Alta Badia, ItalyGiant Slalom
5 January 1992Kranjska Gora, SloveniaSlalom
19 January 1992Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom
26 January 1992Wengen, SwitzerlandSlalom
20 March 1992Crans-Montana, SwitzerlandGiant Slalom
22 March 1992Slalom
19939 January 1993Garmisch, GermanySlalom
19945 December 1993Stoneham, CanadaSlalom
14 December 1993Sestriere, ItalySlalom
30 January 1994Chamonix, FranceSlalom
6 February 1994Garmisch, GermanySlalom
19954 December 1994Tignes, FranceSlalom
12 December 1994Sestriere, ItalySlalom
20 December 1994Lech am Arlberg, AustriaSlalom
21 December 1994Slalom
22 December 1994Alta Badia, ItalyGiant Slalom
6 January 1995Kranjska Gora, SloveniaGiant Slalom
8 January 1995Garmisch, GermanySlalom
15 January 1995Kitzbühel, AustriaSlalom
22 January 1995Wengen, SwitzerlandSlalom
4 February 1995Adelboden, SwitzerlandGiant Slalom
18 March 1995Bormio, ItalyGiant Slalom
199619 December 1995Madonna di Campiglio, ItalySlalom
22 December 1995Kranjska Gora, SloveniaSlalom
7 January 1996Flachau, AustriaSlalom
199730 January 1997Schladming, AustriaSlalom
19988 January 1998Schladming, AustriaSlalom
15 March 1998Crans-Montana, SwitzerlandSlalom

See also

References

  1. Bell, Graham (27 December 2016). "Meet Alberto Tomba: the former bad boy of ski racing". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  2. "Sci: Tomba, 30 anni fa al Sestriere nasceva la "Bomba"" (in Italian). gazzetta.it. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  3. "30 anni fa Alberto Tomba vinceva il suo primo slalom al Sestriere (video)" (in Italian). qasport.it. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  4. "TOMBA, LIBERO DI SBAGLIARE" (in Italian). repubblica.it. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  5. "Olympic Athletes: Alberto Tomba". Olympics.Org. Olympic Organisation. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  6. "Alberto Tomba". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  7. "Alberto Tomba - Vittoria nello slalom mondiale di Sierra Nevada 1996" (in Italian). neveitalia.it. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  8. "Nagano, 1998. L'uscita di Alberto Tomba" (in Italian). neveitalia.it. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  9. "Tomba Dreams of Olympic Comeback". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  10. "LA "EXCELLENCE GUIRLANDE D'HONNEUR" E I PREMI DELLA FICTS". Ficts. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  11. Galli, Lucia (30 January 2017). "Tomba: "I reality mi vogliono, ma io sono all'antica"". ilGiornale.it (in Italian). Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  12. "Tutti i podi conquistati dall'Italia nella storia della Coppa del mondo di sci alpino" (in Italian). fisi.org. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
Winter Olympics
Preceded by
Maurilio De Zolt
Flag bearer for Italy
1992 Albertville
Succeeded by
Deborah Compagnoni
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.