Word: tomba
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...that the former bad boy from Bologna is not only a smarter bomb but also one with laser-guided determination. His image--that of a fun-loving playboy--belies the Zenlike, almost scary concentration he has brought to bear in amassing 43 career victories over nine years. Although Tomba competes only in slalom and giant-slalom races--he does not ski the downhill, super-giant slalom or combined races, the other three ingredients in World Cup competition--he has made his two events a near monopoly. His heft helps, no doubt, but championship form comes more from his total focus...
...Adelboden, Tomba initially had trouble finding his rhythm and finished the first of his two runs 0.34 sec. behind Norway's Harald Strand Nilsen. Early in the second run, he lagged slightly behind his pal Jure Kosir of Slovenia. Then, under the eyes of 5.5 million Italian TV watchers, La Bomba proved as good as his name. He blasted into the steep final leg and cut his arcs sharply in his gate-crashing style. He ended with a composite time of 2:21.96, 0.07 sec. faster than Kosir...
...their air horns sounded like a Swiss national-emergency call. At least half a dozen fan clubs, most of them from the vicinity of their idol's native Bologna, follow him from race to race these days amid the usual shriek packs of star-struck teenage girls. Tomba often gratifies them by performing somersaults at the finish line and, as a seal of success, placing a smooch on his dog, a white husky named, fittingly, Yukon. Is Alberto a god? One supporter arrived in Adelboden prepared: he had recorded what was to become the skier's total season wins...
That record is impressive in anyone's book, or tablet. A career high for Tomba, it marks conquests in three of the five giant-slalom meets he has entered this season and in all seven slalom competitions. The 1,050 points to his World Cup credit virtually freeze out all trailers in the field. Second-ranked Kosir, 480 points behind, had only praise for his friend at Adelboden. Marveled the 22-year-old Slovenian: ``He skied the last five gates flawlessly...
Boosting the leader's pole position have been runs of bad luck for the competition. Europe's mild winter has made mush out of slopes for downhill racing, in which Tomba never competes. As a boy, he was warned against that risky business by his mother--sound advice it may be, for injuries have also dogged his rivals. If there is a cloud on Tomba's horizon, it is Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, a five-time world champ. Girardelli finished 18th at Adelboden, but his third-place Cup total of 563 points still gives him a theoretical shot...