Italian ski legend trains new star

Press, 20 February 1988, Page 31

Italian ski legend trains new star

NZPA-AP Mount Allan Gustavo Thoeni, the living legend of Italian skiing, has been nurturing the talents of the man who is likely to replace him in the record books and says he’s not afraid of a future in the shadows of a new star. Thoeni wrote his alpine legends in the 1970 s as a leader of the Italian skiers’ “Blue Avalanche.” Today he has three children and runs a hotel and a ski school in his native village of Trafoi. He coaches the • slalom, specifically the young giant, Alberto Tomba.

Thoeni believes Tomba could score explosive victories at the Winter Olympics after dominating slalom events in the first part of the World Cup this season.

“Someone suggests that I could be worried by the growing fame of Tomba,” Thoeni said.

“I would say his wins can only improve the popularity of ski-ing in Italy and help growing new talents,” he said.

Thoeni, born in the German-speaking Alto Adige region near Austria, is shy and soft-spoken. Tomba, a 21-year-old born to a rich family in the plains near Bologna, is extroverted and talkative. “Yet we have had a special feeling since I began to train him three years ago,” Thoeni said. “I understood from the very beginning he was a potential champion although victories only came this year.”

Tomba, who won seven World Cup races in two months, is a heavy favourite in the Olympic slalom and giant slalom next week and may threaten the Swiss ace, Pirmin Zurbriggen, in the Super-G on Monday. Tomba has improved on Thoeni’s record of five World Cup race victories in one season, set in 1975. .He could soon equal Thoeni’s single Olympic title but will have to struggle to match Thoeni’s record of four World Cup over-all titles won in five years.