Tomba Goes to 2-0 With Slalom Victory : Skiing: Italian appears ready for Winter Olympics after sweep in Utah.

If anyone is going to beat Alberto Tomba in the Winter Olympics three months from now, he wasn’t here this weekend.

The Italian skier staged a rerun of his giant slalom victory Saturday by coming from behind again to overtake Paul Accola of Switzerland in Sunday’s slalom and win his second consecutive World Cup race.

So, Tomba, who won his Olympic gold medals in these two events at Calgary in 1988, is perfect for the new season, not to mention $45,000 richer. He earned $15,000 for each race victory plus another $15,000 because he obviously had the top combined placings for the two days of action.

He also collected 200 World Cup points (under the new scoring system) to 160 for the runner-up, Accola, and only 26 for Luxembourg’s Marc Girardelli, who edged Tomba last season while taking his fourth World Cup overall title. Girardelli, who failed to finish the giant slalom, placed 13th in the slalom as he appeared to be skiing cautiously while testing his surgically repaired left knee.

On another cold but mostly sunny day in the Wasatch Mountains, Tomba once more found himself trailing Accola after the first run, this time by .29 of a second. To complicate matters, there were two Norwegians sandwiched between--Finn Christian Jagge and Ole Christian Furuseth, who were second and third, respectively--leaving Tomba in fourth.

Not everybody knew it, but the Italian had them right where he wanted.

As he explained Saturday, Tomba’s new strategy is to ease up just a bit in the first run to see how things shake out. Then he turns into “La Bomba” of old in the second run.

In Sunday’s second run, Tomba, who turns 25 next month, easily leapfrogged the Norwegians with his time of 51.75 seconds for a total of 1:43.38. This meant that Accola, starting last in the first group, needed to make his second trip down the icy course in 52.03 seconds or less to put his rival away.

The 22-year-old Swiss racer couldn’t do it. His 52.20 clocking left him .16 behind Tomba, who fell to his knees and kissed the snow as Accola’s time flashed on the scoreboard. Tomba then embraced Accola, who is rapidly becoming the Bobby Bowden of winter sports.

“This is a fantastic day,” Tomba said. “I have been waiting a long time for this. I hadn’t won two (World Cup) races back to back since my first victories at Sestriere (Italy) four years ago. It’s a great feeling to be back at that level.

“As (on Saturday), I didn’t take all the risks. My first thought was to ski clean, not make mistakes. My victory proves again that I am in great shape.”

Italy, whose Roberto Spampatti was third Saturday, again got the bronze medallion, this time with Konrad Kurt Ladstaetter.

Of course, there are actually two Italian teams--the national one and Tomba’s own entourage that includes his coach, Gustavo Thoeni; a physical trainer; an equipment technician, and a nutritionist.

Said Tomba: “I dedicated (Saturday’s victory) to the late Rudi Nierlich (the Austrian racer who was killed in a car crash last May). This one is for all my staff who have supported me for two years. They helped me to come back in shape.”

It was not known whether the nutritionist was involved in planning the party Tomba threw for a few of his friends Saturday night. The main course was spaghetti, smothered in what Tomba called, “My mother’s own spaghetti sauce, which I brought from home.”

Regardless, it proved to be a dinner of champions.

Analyzing what makes Tomba seemingly unbeatable, Billy Kidd, the 1964 Olympic slalom silver medalist and 1970 world champion from Steamboat, Colo., said: “He makes it look so easy. If you watch him ski a slalom course, you’ll notice that his upper body is very quiet, always pointed downhill. He has to swing his skis around the gates, of course, but he is so strong and turns so quickly, there appears to be no wasted motion.

“His winning here is great for skiing in America, because he is so recognizable to the public.”

U.S. skiing also received a boost from Kidd’s neighbor at Steamboat, Matt Grosjean, who finished ninth, although starting the first run in 38th position. It was the highest placing for an American male racer in a World Cup slalom since March 5, 1989, when Felix McGrath was fifth at Furano, Japan.

For Grosjean, 21, the 37 points were his first in World Cup competition, but he doesn’t plan to stop there. “I worked hard all summer,” he said, “and I’m right on track. I want to keep moving up, maybe to the top five next, and then I’ll think about getting on the podium (as one of the top three finishers).”

As for Accola, who earned $21,500 with his pair of second-place finishes, he could only say: “I hope this doesn’t mean I will get a Tomba complex.”

If he does, he won’t be alone.