Alberto Tomba

An Olympic gold medalist in the slalom and giant slalom in 1988, Italy’s Alberto Tomba succesfully defended his giant slalom title in 1992 when he also took the silver medal in the slalom. At his third Winter Games in 1994 he placed second in the slalom giving him a total of five Olympic medals. This record for men in alpine skiing has since been surpassed by Kjetil André Aamodt. Considered a rival of Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark as the greatest technical skiier ever, had Tomba chosen to compete regularly in the downhill and Super-G events he may have won even more medals. Surprisingly, in view of his Olympic successes, he had a relatively poor record at the World Championships where he won a solitary bronze medal in 1987. In contrast, he enjoyed a superb record in the World Cup, winning 50 events in the slalom and giant slalom. A flamboyant, dashing character, both on and off the slopes, he was the idol of the Italian sporting public to whom he was always known as “Tomba La Bomba.”