Tomba, the king of slalom who conquered Italy and the world

«He was so strong – observed the former blue coach Mario Cotelli – that he could have won even more. I criticized him because Alberto was number one and I couldn’t accept that he finished second. If sometimes he lost it was only because he did something wrong. I called it a four-wheel drive skier to explain that Tomba was just like an all-wheel drive car, good for any type of trail. And then he was a dragger. The fans went crazy for him. Where did he go wrong? At one point it happened that he found himself next to the wrong people who, with the excuse of keeping him away from the pressure, passed on an image different from that of reality. He seemed obnoxious, instead he is a nice and down-to-earth guy ».

Media pressure

It is not easy to return to these topics, one feels that for Tomba they are “wounds” that are not well healed. “Sometimes I couldn’t move, I was always followed,” says Alberto. «When I was with Martina Colombari, Miss Italy at the time, we had to hide from photographers. An unacceptable pressure. Especially for a boy who suddenly finds himself at the center of a media earthquake. I got along well with the sports journalists who followed the ski. I am thinking of Alfredo Pigna and many other good correspondents. Others, on the other hand, outside of sport, looked for me to make scandalous scoops, stolen photos that then went around the world. I couldn’t stand it anymore, also because I had to ski above all else. I started with the decline of Stenmark, then came Girardelli, Zurbriggen, Mayer, Accola. They changed, I was always there, in the front row. And when the gate opened, I knew I couldn’t make a mistake because at that level, making mistakes is forbidden. Otherwise they’ll give you up. I’ve said it many times: the problem isn’t winning, it’s winning back…».

Tomba was also a media forerunner. They should give him the copyright. It had already happened with the national football team in 1982, but in an individual discipline it is he, with his overwhelming popularity, who gives a decisive boost to this phenomenon. Sports become a business and the top sports players become full-time stars. An endless escalation, supported by sponsors and by television which, however, dehumanizes everything.

«Yes, we’ve gone too far by now», Tomba points out, making a comparison with his times. «I think of football, its crazy costs and salaries, and I don’t know what to think anymore. Don’t get me wrong: Ronaldo is right to take what he takes, I would too, but he’s a 37-year-old athlete. It’s all weird, excessive. Football erases everything, even strenuous disciplines that require very hard training. I was more fond of football in the times of Vialli, Mancini, Tacconi. It was football with a more human dimension. When I was competing, they would bring a small television into the locker room to watch my descent. As for Gianluca, I don’t know what to say. He didn’t make it, he couldn’t take it anymore… Like Paolo Rossi… Every year we wish each other best wishes with his wife, Federica .. ».

Speaking of skiing, however, one cannot fail to mention how the parts have been reversed. In place of the blue avalanche, there is now a pink avalanche (expected from Monday at the Courchevel/Méribel World Cup event) . “Yes, everything has changed,” observes Tomba. «Girls fly, boys, in short, struggle. Goggia, Brignone, Bassino and all the others are fantastic. They have grit to spare. For men, you have to be patient, sometimes it goes like this…».