WINTER OLYMPICS : Zurbriggen, Tomba Bomb Out in Alpine

“Tomba is waiting for you,” an Italian reporter had warned Pirmin Zurbriggen last Monday after the Swiss skier won the Olympic men’s downhill.

Sure enough, Alberto Tomba was at Nakiska Sunday, and he had nothing else to do but wait, having wiped out in the opening seconds of his super-G run.

But also waiting at the bottom for Zurbriggen was Frenchman Franck Piccard, his time of 1 minute 39.66 seconds already atop the scoreboard.

It stayed there, giving France its first gold medal in Alpine skiing since 1968 and giving Piccard, who was third in the downhill, his second medal of the XV Winter Games.

Zurbriggen was timed in 1:41.96, which got him only a tie for fifth place.

So much for his shot at four gold medals, a figure that had previously been scaled down from five after Zurbriggen blew his chance in the combined event by falling in the second run of the slalom portion last Wednesday.

Three golds for Pirmin, perhaps? Don’t count on it. He’ll be one of the favorites in Thursday’s giant slalom but a long shot in the final race, the slalom, on Saturday.

“The wind pushed me around on the flats,” Zurbriggen said Sunday. “I’m sure that I lost too much time there.”

The wind, which gusted to 50 m.p.h., was again a factor on Mt. Allan, but Karl Frehsner, one of the Swiss coaches, said, “Pirmin skied a bit too defensively. Maybe he was still thinking about his fall in the combined slalom.”

Frehsner also said the course, which is supposed to be set for a race somewhere between a downhill and a giant slalom in length and configuration, tended more toward the latter, with too many sharp turns, especially on the steep upper part.

This is where 5 of the 15 top-seeded racers either fell or missed gates, including contenders Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, Markus Wasmeier of West Germany--and Tomba.

Italy’s “La Bomba,” making his first competitive appearance here, watched as Wasmeier hooked the first gate and lost a ski.

Then, when it was his turn, Tomba said, “I was so intent on taking care of the first gate that I forgot about the second one.

“I opened my skis too much--a dangerous thing to do on a steep slope. And I sat back, an old habit of mine from last year.”

Next thing he knew, Tomba’s left ski was up in the air at a crazy angle, and he was performing a 360 on his right ski. If he’d been competing in the ballet event of the freestyle skiing demonstration, the Italian might have gotten at least a 5.0 for his performance.

The super-G is not Tomba’s strongest event, so he said to his fans: “Come back on Thursday. I will be here for the giant slalom.”

So, of course, will Zurbriggen and Piccard.

The French have a new star in the 23-year-old native of Albertville. He competed in the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, “just for the experience,” and should still be in his prime when the 1992 Games are held in his old hometown.

About his exploits here, Piccard said: “I am very surprised. I did not expect to win two medals before Zurbriggen won two. He is the best skier this year, and I didn’t even think I would win a medal today.

“I was able to hold my line on the steep part at the top, but after the intermediate point, I was wide at just about every gate and thought there was no way I would have a good time.”

Asked how he felt as France’s first Olympic gold medal-winning skier in 20 years, Piccard said: “I was only 4 years old then (actually 3), so I don’t really know too much about Jean-Claude Killy (winning all three Alpine golds at Grenoble in ’68.)”

Helmut Mayer of Austria took the super-G silver medal Sunday with a time 1.30 seconds behind the winner, and Lars-Boerje Eriksson of Sweden gained the bronze by finishing another .12 of a second behind.

The leading American was Tiger Shaw in 18th place, 4.60 seconds slower than Piccard.

After three of the five men’s Alpine events, the Swiss have three medals (one of each color), and so do the Austrians (one gold and two silvers); the French have a gold and a bronze (both by Piccard); and the Swedes have a bronze.

The United States totals: 0-0-0. And it doesn’t figure to get much better later in the week.