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Alberto Tomba
Alberto Tomba was born in Bologna on 19 December, 1966.
He put on his first skis at the age of 5 and, in 1982, joined the Italian national team.
He took part in his first World Cup competition at Madonna di Campiglio in 1985.
Then came the turn of Kitzbuhel (Austria) in 1986. In that same year, at Aare (Sweden), Alberto started with number 62 and came in sixth in a competition won by the athlete who was to become his big rival in the years to come, Pirmin Zurbriggen.
At the end of 1986 at Alta Badia, he made the World Cup podium for the first time.
He won 9 competitions, including his first big victory in the special slalom event.
After a night of celebrations, the day after his victory in the special, Tomba also won the giant slalom in front of the great Ingemar Stenmark and even saluted the public with a raised arm before crossing the finishing line.
Then came the winter Olympics, where Tomba won two gold medals in the giant and special slalom; the Rai (Italian television) interrupted its programmes at the Sanremo Festival to show the last heat.
Twenty years after Gustav Thoeni, in 1995 Alberto Tomba brought the World Cup back to Italy. After a far from easy life under the spotlights, Tomba retired. Along with Ingemar Stenmark, Alberto Tomba is the only athlete to have won the World Cup for ten years in a row.
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