Austrian Takes Down Names in Slalom : Zurbriggen, Tomba, Girardelli, Stenmark Can’t Catch Up With Nierlich

The so-called Big Three--Marc Girardelli, Pirmin Zurbriggen and Alberto Tomba--went head-to-head on Vail Mountain Thursday in a giant slalom that was also one of the last stops on Ingemar Stenmark’s farewell tour.

None of them, however, could head off blond, wiry Rudolf Nierlich, who gave Austria its second gold medal of the World Alpine Ski Championships.

Zurbriggen, who won this event in the 1987 championships on home snow at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, managed to escape with the bronze, just behind Nierlich’s roommate, Helmut Mayer.

As for the others, Girardelli finished fourth; Stenmark came in sixth, and Tomba, the 1988 Olympic giant slalom gold medalist, wound up seventh after bouncing up from a near-spill in the first run.

So, Zurbriggen, who was second in Wednesday’s super-G race, Tomba and Stenmark have just one more shot left at a gold medal, in the slalom on Sunday.

Of course, Nierlich will be in that race, too, and his rise to prominence here is not really a surprise, since he has won two World Cup races this season--a giant slalom at Kirchberg, Austria, and a slalom at Wengen, Switzerland.

Karl Schranz, Austria’s two-time World Cup champion in 1969-70, said, “Nierlich is one of the new skiers. His skis don’t chatter or slide from side to side. He just gets on and off his edges with very little wasted effort. When you watch him race, he doesn’t look like he’s going very fast, but he is.”

Nierlich, who will turn 23 later this month, was indeed very fast in the first run, almost a full second ahead of the field in 1:17.07. In the second run, Mayer was quickest, in 1:20.14, but despite a problem near the middle of the course, Nierlich was only 0.45 seconds slower and ended up getting the gold by a 1.62-second margin with a total time of 2:37.66. Zurbriggen was another 0.10 back.

“I had a great lead,” Nierlich said, “and I felt confident, so I decided to just go for it in the second run, too. I was aggressive but made a mistake and almost fell, so I decided to be more cautious in the bottom half and just try to finish my run.

Between runs, Nierlich said, he and Mayer went back to their room, “and we talked about a lot of things, but very little about the race.”

What most people here were talking about between runs was Tomba’s spectacular recovery. Italy’s “La Bomba” fell over on his right side in the top portion of the first course, skidded along in the snow on his elbow, then sprang back onto his skis and barely squeaked around the next gate. The mishap cost him valuable time and any chance for a medal as he finished the first run in 15th place, 2.75 seconds behind Nierlich.

He had the second fastest second run but could climb only eight places.

“I was just unlucky,” Tomba said. “I was going really fast and I am not quite sure what happened. Maybe I am running out of luck, because I had too much of it last year. Anyway, my second run showed that I am in great shape, and I am looking forward to the slalom.”

Some Italian ski officials and journalists have complained for 6 months that Tomba spent too much time on the party circuit last summer after winning two Olympic gold medals at Calgary, but he seems to be on his way back. Tune in again Sunday for Part II of the miniseries, “La Bomba or La Bum-ba?”

Girardelli, who has already won a gold medal for Luxembourg in the combined, said, “Tomba should be favored in the slalom, but I am making progress this week and am ready to go, too.”

Stenmark, the great Swede who will retire just a few days before his 33rd birthday next month during the World Cup Finals at Shigakogen, Japan, after posting a record 85 victories on the circuit, skied two even runs, the sixth fastest each time, for his sixth place.

Zurbriggen, who turned 26 last Saturday, is also planning to retire, but not until March 1990.

“I am skiing for my own pleasure now,” he said after earning his second medal in 2 days. “Every year, it is getting harder to train and to motivate myself.

“I am happy just to be in the top three. Today, there are 15 skiers who can win in each race. So, you have to ski to the limit and can’t afford to make a mistake. You need a little bit of luck to win.”

Actually, there are sometimes more than 15 who must be considered contenders. Tomaz Cizman of Yugoslavia came from No. 22 for the bronze medal in Wednesday’s super-G, and Thursday, Kyle Wieche, 21, of Farmington, Conn., came in ninth for the highest U.S. placing, after starting No. 27.

“It’s incredible,” said Wieche, whose best finish in his first World Cup season was a 26th at Kirchberg, “to be able to do this here, with everyone cheering for me.”

Wieche is part of the U.S. Ski Team’s youth movement. Two of the older hands, Felix McGrath and Tiger Shaw, didn’t fare as well.

McGrath finished 21st but said he is “looking forward” to his favorite event, the slalom.

Shaw fell on the last steep pitch before the finish in the second run and tore a ligament in his left knee. He’s not looking forward to the slalom, but rather to a recovery of three to four months, as predicted by Dr. Richard Steadman, who will perform arthroscopic surgery on Shaw Tuesday at South Lake Tahoe, Calif.