European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes february 23,1992 c Page 24 1 inside sports Jordan boosts bulls Over Hawks a Page 18 High school basketball finals a Page 21 Lakenheath Sembach gain title shot a Page 23 medals through Friday s events does not include demonstration sports g s b t Germany 10 9 6 25 unified team 8 6 8 22 Austria 5 7 7 19 Norway 7 6 5 18 Italy 4 4 3 11 United states 4 4 2 10 France 3 5 1 9 Finland 3 1 3 7 Japan 1 2 3 6 Canada 2 1 2 5 Netherlands 1 1 2 4 Sweden 1 0 3 4 s. Korea 1 1 1 3 Switzerland 1 0 1 2 China 0 2 0 2 Luxembourg 0 2 0 2 Czechoslovakia 0 0 2 2 new zealand 0 1 0 1 Spain 0 0 1 1 a Gold a Silver a Bronze to total heavily favored Alberto Tomba of Italy suffers Over the ragged first run that Cost him the Gold medal in saturdays slalom. Norwegian claims slalom As Tomba rally Falls Short aps amps by John Nelson Les menu res France a the Tomba train is off its tracks. But of what a ride. A Chance for history gave Way to a drama of historical proportions saturday As Alberto Tomba Ana a swivel hipped norwegian helped close Alpine skiing at the Winter olympics with a bang. Finn Christian Jagge derailed Tomba. It started As a rout and wound up a narrow Victory Over a Man who  catch up but almost did anyway. Quot i think Alpine skiing must be Happy to have such a great skier As Tomba Jagge said. A a it san incredible feeling to beat him at the  Tomba who defended his olympic giant slalom title last tuesday at Val do is Ere was trying to do the same thing in the slalom he would have become the first quadruple Alpine Gold medallist. But he picked the wrong pair of skis for the first run and got so far behind that the Job left was too big even for the 25-year-old nicknamed la Bomba. The Lead was too big but i attacked and 1 took risks for Gold anyway a he said. A the title was in my  Jagge was the ninth Man Down the stadium slalom course for the first run and he came Down hard. His run was flawless More olympics on Page 22 and his time was 51.43 seconds. Tomba was the 12th Man Down. He was sixth in 53.01 1.58 behind. In ski racing that a enough time to grow old and die and that a what happened to Tombas chances for Victory. A i used skis with too Sharp edges. It is my fault a Tomba said. His coach former olympic Champion Gustavo Thoeni suggested that maybe Tomba Hadnot properly tested his skis before the run. In any Case Tomba said the skis were a better suited to the ice skating rink at Albertville than to the hard packed Snow at Les menu res. A in the first run i even considered the possibility of stopping. If it was not an olympic race i could have stopped a Tomba said. In the second run Tomba lined up to come out of the starting Gate 10th, the five faster men would come Down in order behind him. And Tomba attacked a with a new pair of skis. The Snow flew like a rooster Tail behind him As he charged past each of the Gates slapping them Down with his arms. He was like a scythe Clearing a Swath through a Ripe Field of Gates. His powerful legs were folded underneath Nim his arms thrust Forward As each Gate fell. He crossed the finish line and sprawled in the Snow. He had turned in an amazingly Swift run of 51.66 seconds and his huge throng of supporters a crushed around the run out area sitting on each others shoulders hanging from the Gondola stanchions a roared. His total time was 1 44.67. Next came Tomas Fogdog of Sweden then Paul Accola of Switzerland. Both were slow. Another nimble Swiss Patrick staub came Down in 52.88, and Tomba was still ahead. It was austrian Michael Tritscher a turn next. Tritscher had the second fastest time of the first run 52.50, but he could do no better than 52.35 on the second. That gave him 1 44.85, Good eventually for the Bronze medal. That left Jagge. A i was hoping that Jagge could make a mistake in the second run a Tomba said. A unfortunately he did not make  Jagge tried to be cautious to hold Back his skis to concentrate on making a full clean run Down the snaking track. His second run time was Only 52.96, but that gave him 1 44.39 for the two runs. He wound up winning by .28, and Tomba was  takes spotlight in closing ceremonies Albertville France a today a closing ceremony for the Winter olympics will be less sleight of hand imagery and More a tribute to Alpine tradition full of pomp and Joy. But the evening fete will also reflect some of the three dimensional imagination that Philippe Decoufle pulled off in the opening ceremony feb. 8. And of yes a the rhymes Are Back. Folk dancers in lederhosen and Speed skaters will swarm Over the stage of the 36,000-seat temporary stadium for the olympic Adieu which will end in a burst of fireworks and an invitation to spectators to come Down and dance. The performance relies less on trap doors and characters appearing from the sky a Staples of the opener a and More on Plain fun and dance. Music from Organ grinder tunes and Rossini to the Fine Young cannibals accompany the show which at about one hour is considerably Shorter than the opening festivities two weeks ago. Thirty six skaters open the show with a solemn dance of pirouettes and concentric circles on a round 73-foot ice rink at the Center of the stadium. The two narrators for French and English arrive on a ski lift like device to introduce speakers and performers occasionally in the Short often stilted poems remember a a they re ready to Fly their step is so Perky please Welcome the team competing for Turkey they used to present the 64 participating countries at the ceremony kicking off the games. A skier dressed in Silver who at the opening ceremonies had left the stadium under a sign Reading a depart a returns under the sign a car Nice a heralding the athletes Entrance to the stadium loosely grouped by country. The teams gather briefly around the ice rink As International olympic committee president Juan Antonio Sam ranch enters along with the local organizing committee co presidents Jean Claude Killy and Michel Barnier. The greek French and norwegian flags Are raised to their National anthems in Honor of Greece As originator of the games and Norway As the next Host of the Winter olympics in Lillehammer in 1994