Alberto Tomba “la bomba” | Stories of World Champions!

The story of champions without any similarities between them!
This is the story of an athlete born on the hills of Bologna and arrived at the top of the world, winning for almost 15 years in Alpine Skiing!

Even today, Alberto Tomba is one of the greatest exponents in the history of Italian skiing: born in San Lazzaro di Savena in 1966, the skier emerged in the second half of the 80s, immediately becoming a new sporting myth to identify with and representing Italy at its best in the specialties of giant slalom and special slalom, still being considered one of the greatest specialists in technical tests of all time.

A famous figure not only for his great results on the slopes but also for his extroverted and cheeky character, Alberto Tomba has rekindled the enthusiasm of Italians for skiing and the competitions of this sport, winning a huge number of trophies and races: 5 medals at the Olympics, 4 medals at the World Championships, 1 Alpine Skiing World Cup (where he is fourth in the all-time ranking for number of victories, a good 50), 4 special slalom World Cups and 4 giant slalom World Cups.

The legend of Alberto Tomba began in 1987, when, as an unknown!
He made his World Cup debut in December 1985 in Madonna di Campiglio, three days before his birthday. Two months later, he went to Are in Sweden. Nobody knows the boy from Bologna even though a year earlier, in 1984, he had taken 4th place in the World Junior Championships and was part of the Italian team’s “B” team.

In Are, he is the one who surprises everyone by ranking 6th from a starting number of 62. His first podium came the following season in Alta Badia in Italy in December 1986.

Right in Alta Badia, in his home. It is the 21st edition of the Alpine Ski World Cup! It is December 14, 1986. Alberto Tomba has won the silver medal, the first medal of his career, after a duel with his two co-nationals, the Italians Pramotton (1st) and Tosch (3rd)! At the end of this edition, he is ranked in the Overall classification, in 15th place. In the Giant Slalom race he is 9th and nothing more. But his “star” has begun to shine.

At the Alpine Ski World Championships, held in Crans Montana, Alberto Tomba won the bronze medal in February 1987 in the “Giant Slalom” competition, the only medal for the Italian team.

In the next World Cup season, 1987-1988, he will prove to be a true champion, surprising everyone. Immediately in the first two races of the World Cup, he is the winner, in Slalom on November 27, 1987, and in “Giant Slalom”, just two days later, defeating the outstanding Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark!

Ingemar Stenmark

At the end of the season, he will win 7 races, three “Giant Slalom” and four “Slalom”, winning the World Cup in these two specialties, and both of these races will soon become “his property”, as an undisputed winner.
In “Overall” he will finish the runner up, right after the outstanding Swiss skier Pirmin Zurbriggen. In “Super G” Alberto Tomba finishes in 8th position.

Pirmin Zurbriggen

Tomba became the first Italian since Gustavo Thoeni to score a double in the World Cup: his massive physique, total disregard for danger and adrenaline-filled style made Tomba a legend right from the start, making him a celebrity in the 1987-1988 season, where he won repeatedly.

In 1988 is the year of the Winter Olympics in Calgary!
On February 25, in the “Giant Slalom” competition, Tomba wins the gold medal with a time of 2;06;37 and is followed by the Austrian Hubert Strolz +1.04.

Two days later on February 27, Tomba wins the second gold medal, this time in the Slalom with a 1;39;47, leaving behind the West German Frank Worndl (+0.6). With these two gold medals, thanks to the skier Alberto Tomba “la bomba” Italy ranks third in these winter games for Alpine Skiing, after the superpower in this sport, Switzerland (with 11 medals) and Austria (6 medals)!

Giant skier Pirmin Zurbriggen

In the 1988-1989 World Cup season, Tomba’s performance was not satisfactory compared to what was expected from the Italian champion. His first and only victory in the race would come on December 11, 1988 in Madonna di Campiglio in the “Slalom”, after 6 races of this cup!

At the end of the competition calendar he will take the 2nd and 3rd position, three times. While in the “Overall” ranking Tomba will be ranked 3rd, behind Marc Girardelli as the winner and the Swiss giant Pirmin Zurbriggen (second). In the “Slalom” he will be ranked 2nd, behind the winner Armin Bittner (FRG). In the “Super G” and “Giant Slalom” he will be ranked 7th!

Marc Girardelli

The World Championships held that year (1989) in Vail, Colorado would be disappointing for Alberto Tomba who did not win any medals, and even the great champion Zurbriggen only won two medals (a silver and a bronze).

Sudden fame, combined with a never-hidden love for the good life, slowed down Tomba’s performances, who after a period of limited successes returned to making people talk about him for his talent: at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, he won the giant slalom and became the first to triumph in the same specialty for two consecutive Olympic Games.

Since 1992, Tomba has carved out a reputation as a slalom specialist, winning only between the narrow poles for the next three years. Then something happens, and in the 1994-1995 season of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, he becomes the absolute protagonist of the event.

Begun in Park City on November 26, 1994, and concluded on March 19, 1995, in Bormio, the cup saw Alberto Tomba triumph both in the general classification and in the giant slalom and special slalom specialties. Twenty years later,

Italians can now celebrate one of their compatriots on top of the world: tens of thousands of Italians arrive in Bormio to witness the historic event, with Tomba lifting what will be his only Crystal Globe at home.

Alberto Tomba makes it clear that he is now close to retiring, satisfied with what he has achieved up to that point in the world of skiing. There is, however, still one thing to do: triumph at the World Championships.

The opportunity presents itself the following year at the World Championships in Sierra Nevada in 1996, postponed by a year due to the lack of snow: on February 23, Tomba wins an incredible gold medal in the giant slalom after almost falling and being the protagonist of a breathtaking recovery, also winning two days later in the special.

Unexpectedly, Tomba managed to win another medal in the following edition, Sestriere 1997, scoring an unexpected bronze and somehow closing a circle opened exactly 10 years earlier, when as a semi-unknown he had won his first medal in this competition.

The last page is that of Nagano 1998: Tomba arrives with the dream of winning a medal at every world championship, but he will not succeed. However, he closes his career in the best way in the same year with a last victory in the slalom in the race held in Crans-Montana.

Pjerin Bj
New York: January 14, 2025
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Sports Vision + Plus / The Champions Hour in activity since 2013

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