The IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Crystal Globe trophies were on display in Aspen, Colo., Wednesday. Juneau monoskier Joe Tompkins won a globe after winning both downhill events Tuesday and Wednesday.
Joe Tompkins, right, and son Donald show off the two gold medals and Crystal Globe trophy Tompkins won this week in Colorado.
Story last updated at 3/4/2010 - 10:43 am
He's on fire. Figuratively speaking, of course, but you could say he's going out in a blaze of glory.
Juneau monoskier Joe Tompkins, just a few short weeks away from retirement, won his second gold medal in as many days in Aspen, Colo., at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals in another downhill event for his fifth career gold.
The victory also capped off an improbable comeback to win the overall World Cup points championship for the year. Tompkins, 41, needed 200 points to rally for the win. And that's exactly what he got, racking up 100 points for each top spot on the podium on Tuesday and Wednesday. A second-place finish nets just 80 points, which wouldn't have been enough.
His prize?
The coveted Crystal Globe trophy.
"It's got the world on it and where the races were are etched into the crystal," Tompkins said. "It's pretty awesome."
So winning the globe means you're the best in the world at the downhill?
"Well, this year," Tompkins chuckled. "My son (Donald) and I are pretty stoked."
The distance and course was the same as Tuesday's, though Tompkins improved on his time, finishing the run in 1:12.33, nearly two seconds ahead of second-place Sean Rose (1:14.11). Tompkins finished in 1:13.16 on Tuesday.
"The top section (of the run) was pretty good for me, and I came to a place called the waterfall and I bucketed out - where I'm sitting down, the part I'm sitting in touched the ground and that's not good," he explained. "I bumped out and I went down over the waterfall, and I was mad at that point because of the mess-up. So I knew I had to go all out and I just let it go.
"I was holding on for dear life."
Tompkins said he was probably going between 63 and 68 miles per hour.
Today is the Super Combined for Tompkins, and then he finishes up Friday in the Super-G for his final two tune-ups before next week's Paralympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
So in his final year of competitive skiing, Tompkins is now having perhaps his best stretch.
"It's amazing. I've been ski racing 12-13 years and I've never won a globe. You appreciate it a lot more after you get it because there are a lot of guys who will never see one of those," he said. "I didn't expect this or even think about it, to tell you the truth. Donald and I didn't know I was down that much until we talked about it on the ride home from the medal ceremony.
"I really never dreamt about this."
The only thing left to add to the résumé is that Paralympic gold that has eluded him during the last two Paralympics in Torino, Italy, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
As Tompkins said recently, third time could be the charm.
And there would be no better way to go.
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