Roland Collombin
| — Alpine ski racer — | ||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
17 February 1951 Versegères, Valais, Switzerland | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut |
12 December 1971 (1st top 10) (age 20) | |||||||||||||||
| Retired | December 1975 (age 24) | |||||||||||||||
| Website | rolandcollombin.ch | |||||||||||||||
| Olympics | ||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 1 – (1972) | |||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | |||||||||||||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||||
| Teams |
2 – (1972, 1974) includes Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Medals | 1 (0 gold) | |||||||||||||||
| World Cup | ||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 3 – (1972–74) | |||||||||||||||
| Wins | 8 – (8 DH) | |||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 11 – (11 DH) | |||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 0 – (3rd in 1973) | |||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 2 – (DH, 1973, 1974) | |||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||
Roland Collombin (born 17 February 1951) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Switzerland, a two-time World Cup downhill champion and Olympic silver medalist.
Racing career
Born in Versegères in the canton of Valais, Collombin made his first World Cup top ten finish at age 20 in December 1971 with a seventh place in the downhill at Val-d'Isère, France. Two months later, he won the silver medal in the downhill at the 1972 Winter Olympics at Sapporo, Japan, finishing behind countryman Bernhard Russi.
Collombin dominated the event over the next two World Cup seasons, 1973 and 1974, and won the World Cup season titles in downhill.
In January 1974, Collombin won the month's four downhills in consecutive weeks, which included the two classics: the Lauberhorn at Wengen, Switzerland, and the Hahnenkamm at Kitzbühel, Austria. Collombin had finished second in the previous two downhills in December 1973 for six consecutive downhill podiums. The repeat win at Kitzbühel was in record time, besting Jean-Claude Killy's mark of 1967,[1] but was Collombin's last finish in international competition. (Franz Klammer of Austria broke the record at Kitzbühel the following year.)
The World Championships were held in Switzerland in February 1974 at St. Moritz. The Swiss team won seven medals at the Olympics two years earlier in Japan, but managed just one at home, a bronze in the women's slalom. Collombin could not continue his January success; he fell in the downhill and did not finish.[2]
Injuries
In early December 1974, Collombin fell in a training run for the season's first downhill at Val-d'Isère and bruised his spine, ending his 1975 season.[3] In his absence, Franz Klammer of Austria won the first of his four straight downhill season titles. Collombin attempted a comeback in December 1975 at Val-d'Isère, but fell at the same jump as the year before and broke two vertebrae, ending his racing career.[4][5] Nearly paralyzed,[6] Collombin did not walk again until mid-February,[7] after the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. He finished his World Cup career with eight victories and three runner-up finishes, all in downhill.
After racing
Collombin and his wife Sarah operate a guest house in Versegères, and Collumbin also has a product line of wines.[8][9]
World Cup results
Season titles
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 1973 | Downhill |
| 1974 | Downhill |
Season standings
| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant Slalom | Super G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 21 | 38 | — | — | not run | 15 | not awarded |
| 1973 | 22 | 3 | — | — | 1 | ||
| 1974 | 23 | 4 | — | — | 1 | ||
| 1975 | 24 | injured at first DH race, out for season | |||||
| 1976 | 25 | ||||||
Top Ten Finishes
- 8 wins - (8 DH)
- 11 podiums - (11 DH)
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 12 Dec 1971 |  Val-d'Isère, France | Downhill | 7th |
| 15 Jan 1972 |  Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill | 7th | |
 1972 Winter Olympics | ||||
| 1973 | 10 Dec 1972 | Val-d'Isère, France | Downhill | 4th |
| 15 Dec 1972 |  Val Gardena, Italy | Downhill | 1st | |
| 6 Jan 1973 |  Garmisch, West Germany | Downhill | 1st | |
| 7 Jan 1973 | Downhill | 1st | ||
| 13 Jan 1973 |  Grindelwald, Switzerland | Downhill | 2nd | |
| 27 Jan 1973 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill | 1st | |
| 1974 | 18 Dec 1973 | Zell am See, Austria | Downhill | 2nd |
| 22 Dec 1973 | Schladming, Austria | Downhill | 2nd | |
| 6 Jan 1974 | Garmisch, West Germany | Downhill | 1st | |
| 12 Jan 1974 | Avoriaz, France | Downhill | 1st | |
| 19 Jan 1974 | Wengen, Switzerland | Downhill | 1st | |
| 26 Jan 1974 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Downhill | 1st | |
Video
- YouTube video - Roland Collombin - penultimate victory - Wengen - 19-Jan-1974
- YouTube video - Albrecht vs. Collombin - career ending crashes of two Swiss downhillers - (Jan 2009 vs Dec 1975)
References
- ↑ "Swiss tops Killy's mark in downhill". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. January 27, 1974. p. 9.
- ↑ "Thoeni adds second skiing gold". Montreal Gazette. UPI. February 11, 1974. p. 17.
- ↑ "Proell-Moser wins". Ottawa Citien. Associated Press. December 9, 1974. p. 18.
- ↑ "Swiss star injured - French skier killed". Ottawa Citizen. Reuters. December 8, 1975. p. 18.
- ↑ Reilly, Rick (November 23, 1998). "Uphill battle for a downhill skier". Sports Illustrated: 174.
- ↑ "End of career". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. December 11, 1975. p. 50.
- ↑ "Sport shorts: Swiss skier Roland Collombin". Montreal Gazette. February 20, 1976. p. 25.
- ↑ tripadvisor.com - reviews of Rolland Collombin guest house in Versegères, Switzerland - accessed 2011-01-02
- ↑ rolandcollumbin.ch (French) - wines - accessed 2011-01-02
External links
- Roland Collombin at the International Ski Federation
- FIS-ski.com – World Cup season standings – Roland Collombin – 1972–74
- Ski-db.com – results – Roland Collombin
- Sports Reference.com – Olympic results – Roland Collombin
- Roland Collumbin.ch – personal site – (French) – photo gallery