Tomba Walks Off

Alberto Tomba could not hide his anger as he skidded out of the giant slalom race in the world championships, failing to defend his world title.

The 30-year-old Italian - the five-time Olympic and world champion - retired from the first run of the race after almost falling three times.

His first mistake, at the eighth gate, cost him more than three seconds. The race was over. He almost fell 10 seconds later and with just over a minute gone, he nearly missed a gate and plowed to a stop.

“No, I didn’t cry, but I’m really angry,” Tomba said. “I did my best considering I started in the second group. Today was not my lucky day.”

Michael Von Gruenigen, the World Cup giant slalom champion, led after the first leg and had the second fastest time in the second to take gold with silver for Norway’s Lasse Kjus and bronze for Austrian Andreas Schifferer.