Tomba Sheds Tears After Win In Final World Cup Slalom

Alberto Tomba, coming off a poor showing at the Nagano Olympics, scored a startling victory Sunday by capturing the final World Cup slalom of the season.

Tomba threw himself onto the ground and broke into tears at the finish line. He lay there a few seconds, then got up and wiped the tears off with snow. Tomba then stripped to his undershirt and hugged his sister.

It was his 50th World Cup win and came 11 years after he burst on the scene at the world championships at this site.

In Japan last month, Tomba finished 17th in the first run of the slalom, and then pulled out of the second leg.

On Sunday, he completed the race in 1 minute, 42.84 seconds. Olympic slalom champion Hans-Petter Buraas of Norway took second, 14-hundredths of a second behind.

Austria’s Thomas Sykora retained his World Cup slalom title, finishing four points ahead of teammate Thomas Stangassinger.

Austria’s Alexandra Meissnitzer clinched the women’s giant slalom. But Germany’s Martina Ertl won the World Cup title in the discipline, taking it from defending champ Deborah Compagnoni of Italy.