Skiing’s Old Pro Hints At Retirement Tomba Suggests That Sport Might Be Too Much For Him

Alberto Tomba has arrived for the World Cup Finals looking a bit drawn, the smile not quite so energized, the bounce missing from the step.

And that’s the problem.

Tomba said he’d not heard of the letter written to the International Ski Federation by 1996 World Cup over-all champion Lasse Kjus of Norway, asking the sanctioning body of international skiing to give the racers a break in scheduling races and traveling.

“He said that? That’s a good idea,” Tomba said, “Maybe I should write a letter, too.”

This wasn’t one of the one-liners that the Italian superstar has taken pleasure dropping for quote-hungry journalists over the years. He was serious.

“This is stupid,” he said of the racing schedule that moved from Europe to Japan to the United States in 10 days. “Many things need to be changed.”

Tomba, who as a youngster called himself the “Messiah of Skiing,” doubts that his status as a veteran would help get the changes Kjus is seeking.

“I’m too old,” said the 30-year-old Tomba. “I’m leaving. But they need a professional, an athlete who could talk to them.”

Italian journalists accustomed to back-and-forth bantering with Tomba suggested that maybe the three-time Olympic champion could start his own ski tour to oppose the World Cup.

“The Tomba Cup?” he laughed. “No, that’s been tried before, in tennis. No, I don’t think it’s necessary to go that far, but I think it is important that more people write letters and send faxes to the FIS, to tell them what they are thinking.

“These things are always being discussed at the Finals, when you begin thinking about next season. By that time, it’s too late to change anything for next season. We need to maybe go to the FIS in the spring and talk.”

Tomba said that even if he became a vocal advocate of change, others might suspect his motives.

“They might think I’m maybe doing it for the advantage of the Italians,” Tomba suggested. “Maybe it should be a Swiss or Austrian who should come forward.”

Like Kjus, Tomba said the rigors of travel have drained him as he approaches his only race of the Finals, the slalom on Sunday.

“This is a long slalom, about 2 minutes, and I don’t like Pepi’s Face (the last part of the course) because it is so steep and it lasts about 40 seconds.

“I care about making a good impression. It’s a long race and if it’s like it is today, the visibility will be bad. And there is the altitude (9,500 feet) and I’m tired after traveling from Japan.”

Tomba talks more and more these days about getting old, and the relentless Italian press continually brings up the question of retirement.

He has deflected the question so far, saying he’ll make up his mind after the season is over.

“I’ll train both disciplines (giant slalom and slalom) and when I decide whether I’ll return, I’ll also decide whether I’ll ski both disciplines or just one.”