Roland Collombin

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.[1]

Roland Collombin
Alpine skier
Roland Collombin c. 1973
DisciplinesDownhill
Born (1951-02-17) 17 February 1951
Versegères, Valais, Switzerland
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
World Cup debut12 December 1971
(1st top 10) (age 20)
RetiredDecember 1975 (age 24)
Websiterolandcollombin.ch
Olympics
Teams1 – (1972)
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Championships
Teams2 – (1972, 1974)
    includes Olympics
Medals1 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons3 – (1972–74)
Wins8 – (8 DH)
Podiums11 – (11 DH)
Overall titles0 – (3rd in 1973)
Discipline titles2 – (DH, 1973, 1974)
Medal record
Representing   Switzerland
Olympic Games
World Championships
1972 Sapporo Downhill

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,[2] 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 (by Lise-Marie Morerod). Collombin could not continue his January success; he fell in the downhill and did not finish, but he was 0.45 seconds behind winner David Zwilling before he did fall, maybe a to big margin to take the win.[3]

Injuries

On December 8, 1974, Collombin fell in the season's first downhill at Val-d'Isère and bruised his spine, ending his 1975 season.[4] In his absence, Franz Klammer of Austria won the first of his four straight downhill season titles. Collombin attempted a comeback on December 7, 1975 at Val-d'Isère, but fell in the first training at the same jump as the year before and broke two vertebrae, being paralyzed for two days and ending his racing career. That jump is called »Bosse à Collombin« since that time.[5][6] Nearly paralyzed,[7] Collombin did not walk again until mid-February,[8] after the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. He finished his World Cup career with eight victories and three runner-up finishes, all in downhill.[1]

By now, Mr. Collombin is a vinicultarist, wine merchant and hotelier at Versegères.

After racing

Collombin and his wife Sarah operate a guest house in Versegères, and Collombin also has a product line of wines.[1][9][10] In late 2014 Roland and Sarah opened a raclette bar named "La Streif"(in reference to the ski run in Kitzbuehel, Austria, where Collombin won several times), in the Swiss town of Martigny.[11]

World Cup results

Season titles
SeasonDiscipline
1973Downhill
1974Downhill

Season standings
SeasonAgeOverallSlalomGiant
Slalom		Super GDownhillCombined
19722138——not
run 		15not
awarded
1973223——1
1974234——1
197524injured at first DH race, out for season
197625

Top Ten Finishes
  • 8 wins – (8 DH)
  • 11 podiums – (11 DH)
Season Date Location Discipline Place
197212 December 1971 Val-d'Isère, FranceDownhill7th
15 January 1972 Kitzbühel, AustriaDownhill7th
1972 Winter Olympics
197310 December 1972 Val-d'Isère, FranceDownhill4th
15 December 1972 Val Gardena, ItalyDownhill1st
6 January 1973 Garmisch, West GermanyDownhill1st
7 January 1973Downhill1st
13 January 1973   Grindelwald, SwitzerlandDownhill2nd
27 January 1973 Kitzbühel, AustriaDownhill1st
197418 December 1973 Zell am See, AustriaDownhill2nd
22 December 1973 Schladming, AustriaDownhill2nd
6 January 1974 Garmisch, West GermanyDownhill1st
12 January 1974 Avoriaz, FranceDownhill1st
19 January 1974   Wengen, SwitzerlandDownhill1st
26 January 1974 Kitzbühel, AustriaDownhill1st

World championship results
  Year   Age  Slalom Giant
 Slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
197220——not run2—
197422——DNF—

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.

Olympic results

  Year   Age  Slalom Giant
 Slalom 		Super-GDownhillCombined
197220——not run2not run
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References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Roland Collombin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  2. "Swiss tops Killy's mark in downhill". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. 27 January 1974. p. 9.
  3. "Thoeni adds second skiing gold". Montreal Gazette. UPI. 11 February 1974. p. 17.
  4. "Proell-Moser wins". Ottawa Citizen. Associated Press. 9 December 1974. p. 18.
  5. "Swiss star injured – French skier killed". Ottawa Citizen. Reuters. 8 December 1975. p. 18.
  6. Reilly, Rick (23 November 1998). "Uphill battle for a downhill skier". Sports Illustrated: 174.
  7. "End of career". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. 11 December 1975. p. 50.
  8. "Sport shorts: Swiss skier Roland Collombin". Montreal Gazette. 20 February 1976. p. 25.
  9. Reviews of Rolland Collombin guest house in Versegères, Switzerland. tripadvisor.com
  10. Commandez vos vins préférés. rolandcollumbin.ch (in French) – wines – accessed 2 January 2011
  11. La «Colombe» remet la gomme, mais cette fois en famille! illustre.ch. 17 December 2014
Videos
  • Video on YouTube – Roland Collombin – penultimate victory – Wengen – 19-Jan-1974
  • Video on YouTube – Albrecht vs. Collombin – career ending crashes of two Swiss downhillers – (Jan 2009 vs Dec 1975)
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