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Outside magazine, December 1998

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Alberto: A Life (cont.)


	(John Springs)

"At first he was just another part of the Italian team. He flew in the regular part of the plane with them. Then Gustavo [Thoeni] became his personal coach. He got a personal trainer, a personal service technician, a masseuse. On a normal team, you've got one of each of these people for five or six team members. Tomba had all these people for himself."
Felix McGrath, former U.S. slalom and giant slalom champion

"They have this training ground in November in Colorado, before the public comes. And you look at the schedule, and he's listed along with the other national teams. You'd see the Slovenian team here, and the German team there, and Tomba over there. It was like the nation of Tomba was training on its own."
Peter Oliver

Alberto and Hair
"Even then he had this aura. He had big hair. Tall hair. I don't know what was in it. He wasn't particularly a standout, but his hair stood out."
Steve Porino, former U.S. World Cup skier, about Tomba's debut

"You wouldn't really see him, but you could see this rush of people. He was surrounded by women and bodyguards. You could maybe see his hair."
Edith Thys, former U.S. Ski Team member, describing Tomba's visit to a nightclub in Spain in 1996

"This way, even if I lose my hat I'm still aerodynamic."
Tomba, 1995, when questioned about his new shorter coiffure

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Alberto and the Power of Positive Thinking
"My goal [for retirement] is 1992. I want to stop at the top like Phil and Steve Mahre, not like Stenmark, who is now a shadow of his greatness."
Tomba, 1988

"It's not enough just to race. Alberto must win every day. If I come in second, they say Alberto lost. In Italy they want to know about me every minute. They put Alberto in the newspapers like Princess Diana. If I kiss a friend on the cheek, the papers say, 'Alberto's new girlfriend.' Then she has to hide. And her family, too. In Italy, they love me too much. They want to kill me. Now Alberto is tired. More than tired. Tomba is dead."
Tomba, 1996

"I always do well in Olympic years, and this year will be no exception."
Tomba, 1998

Alberto and La Dolce Vita
"We thought about a Vespa ride through Rome: Alberto would give us a tour of the city and we could tape it. I reserve a Vespa and tell Alberto we have it from three to five, so that's when we have to shoot. He says, 'No, no, no! That's too complicated! We can just borrow one.' So he flags down this guy on the street and asks to borrow his Vespa. He's Alberto, so the guy says sure."
Draggan Mihailovich, former producer, CBS Sports

"He is incredibly cheap. He never has money on him."
Erwin Stricker

"When he cooks you something, he'll watch you take a bite, then he'll eat the same bite off your plate so he'll know exactly what you're tasting, exactly what you're experiencing. He's a sensual person. He might have three girls around that we'll be eating with, and who knows, he probably ends up upstairs with them later, but so what?"
Picabo Street, U.S. Olympic gold medalist

"We were speechless, but then, what can we do?"
Restaurant manager in Niigata, Japan, 1998, after Tomba burst into the kitchen uninvited, picked up a skillet and ingredients, and prepared himself some pasta

"He carries his own block of Parmesan cheese. He won't accept anyone else's. He just pulls out his block of cheese and starts grating it."
Eva Twardokens

"I had my razor, but no shaving cream, and I don't accept shaving cream that I don't know."
Tomba, asked at Val d'Isˆre in 1992 why he had not groomed himself between slalom runs

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