Alberto Tomba biography
Alberto Tomba, byname La Bomba, (born Dec. 19, 1966, San Lazzaro di Savena, Italy), flamboyant Italian Alpine skier who earned 5 Olympic medals, together with gold in each the slalom and the large slalom on the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and within the large slalom on the 1992 Games in Albertville, France. In 1995 he received the World Cup slalom and large slalom titles and have become the primary slalom specialist to win the World Cup general title since Ingemar Stenmark in 1978.
Tomba, the son of a rich Bolognese textile service provider, completed 51st on the World Cup circuit in 1986, his first 12 months on the circuit. Off the slopes, he cultivated a vibrant playboy picture, however on the slopes he mixed fashionable, nearly balletic grace and a dangerous, all-or-nothing aggression. By 1988 he had risen to second on the circuit and had received two Olympic gold medals in Calgary. He captured the large slalom by greater than a second; two days later he defeated Stenmark and defending world champion Frank Wörndl within the slalom, with a successful margin of solely 0.06 second.
In 1992 Tomba arrived in Albertville because the favorite in each occasions, though through the four-year interval he had damaged his collarbone and struggled with issues controlling each his weight and his focus. He efficiently defended his Olympic title within the large slalom however misplaced the slalom by 0.28 second, regardless of a sensational second run.
At the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, Tomba took the silver within the slalom, narrowly lacking his fourth gold medal by a margin of 0.15 second. In 1995, after a decade on the World Cup circuit, Tomba captured the World Cup general title with 11 race victories: 7 slaloms and 4 large slaloms. The subsequent 12 months he took gold medals within the slalom and large slalom on the Alpine world championships. At the 1998 Nagano (Japan) Olympics, nonetheless, he didn't ski effectively and did not win a medal in both slalom occasion.