Aksel Lund Svindal

Aksel Lund Svindal

Svindal in February 2011
Disciplines	Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, Combined
Club	Nero Alpin
Born	(1982-12-26) December 26, 1982 (age 29) Lørenskog, Norway
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
World Cup debut	October 28, 2001 (age 18)
Website	aksellundsvindal.com
Olympics
Teams	2 – (2006, 2010)
Medals	3 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams	5 – (2003-11)
Medals	6 (4 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	10th - (2003–12)
Wins	16
Podiums	41
Overall titles	2 – (2007, 2009)
Discipline titles	5 – (3 SG, 1 GS, 1 K)
Medal record Men's alpine skiing Competitor for  Norway Olympic Games Gold 2010 Vancouver Super-G Silver 2010 Vancouver Downhill Bronze 2010 Vancouver Giant slalom World Championships Gold 2011 Garmisch S-Combined Gold 2009 Val d'Isère S-Combined Gold 2007 Åre Downhill Gold 2007 Åre Giant slalom Silver 2005 Bormio Combined Bronze 2009 Val d'Isère Super-G Junior World Ski Championships Gold 2002 Tarvisio Combined Silver 2002 Tarvisio Super G Bronze 2002 Tarvisio Downhill Bronze 2002 Tarvisio Slalom

Aksel Lund Svindal (born December 26, 1982) is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Kjeller, Norway. Born in Lørenskog, he is a two-time overal World Cup champion (2007 and 2009), an Olympic gold medalist in Super G at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and a four-time World Champion in downhill, giant slalom, and super combined (2007 Åre, 2009 Val d'Isère, and 2011 Garmisch-Partenkirchen).

Career

Through February 2012, Svindal has won six World Championship medals, three Olympic medals, four World Cup discipline titles (in combined, super-G, and giant slalom), and 15 World Cup races. Additionally, he won four medals at the 2002 World Junior Championships, including gold in combined. He won his first overall World Cup title in 2007.

On November 27, 2007, during the first training run for the Birds of Prey downhill race in Beaver Creek, USA, Svindal crashed badly after landing a jump. He somersaulted into a safety fence and was taken to Vail Valley Medical Center with broken bones in his face and a six inch (15 cm) laceration to his groin and abdominal area. He missed the remainder of the 2008 season, and returned to World Cup racing in October 2008. His first two victories following his return were a downhill and a super-G in Beaver Creek, on the same Birds of Prey course where he was injured the year before.^[1]

Svindal racing for the silver medal in the downhill at the 2010 Olympics at Whistler

At the 2009 World Championships, Svindal won the gold in the Super Combined. Fulfilling his comeback during the 2009 season, Svindal won his second overall World Cup over Benjamin Raich of Austria. Entering the last race of the season, a slalom at the World Cup finals in Åre, Sweden, Svindal led Raich by just two points. They had won the two previous races (a downhill and giant slalom respectively), with Svindal leading but Raich was the favorite as a specialist in slalom. Both skiers went off course and did not finish the slalom, so the Norwegian became the overall World Cup winner.^[2] He also won his fourth discipline title, his second in super G.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics on February 15, Svindal won the silver medal in the downhill competition in Whistler, 0.07 seconds behind the winner, Didier Défago of Switzerland, and 0.02 seconds ahead of bronze medalist Bode Miller of the United States. Svindal's medal was Norway's hundredth silver medal at the Winter Olympic Games, making Norway the first nation to win 100 silver medals at the Winter Olympics.

Four days later on February 19, Svindal won the Super-G competition, his first ever Olympic gold medal – ahead of Americans Bode Miller (+ 0.28 seconds) and Andrew Weibrecht (+ 0.31 seconds).

Svindal successfully defended his World Championship in the Super Combined in 2011 in Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany.^[3]

World Cup results

Season standings

Season titles

7 titles: (2 overall, 3 SG, 1 GS, 1 K)

Individual races

16 victories – (5 DH, 6 SG, 4 GS, 1 SC)

Season	Date	Location	Discipline
2006	27 Nov 2005	Lake Louise, Canada	Super G
	15 Mar 2006	Åre, Sweden	Downhill
2007	30 Nov 2006	Beaver Creek, USA	Super Combined
	21 Dec 2006	Hinterstoder, Austria	Giant Slalom
	14 Mar 2007	Lenzerheide, Switzerland	Downhill
	15 Mar 2007		Super G
	17 Mar 2007		Giant Slalom
2008	28 Oct 2007	Sölden, Austria	Giant Slalom
	25 Nov 2007	Lake Louise, Canada	Super G
2009	5 Dec 2008	Beaver Creek, USA	Downhill
	6 Dec 2008		Super G
	11 Mar 2009	Åre, Sweden	Downhill
2010	18 Dec 2009	Val Gardena, Italy	Super G
2011	8 Jan 2011	Adelboden, Switzerland	Giant Slalom
2012	27 Nov 2011	Lake Louise, Canada	Super G
	14 Mar 2012	Schladming, Austria	Downhill

References

External links

• Aksel Lund Svindal at the International Ski Federation
• FIS-ski.com – World Cup season standings – Aksel Lund Svindal
• Ski-db.com – results – Aksel Lund Svindal
• Sports-reference.com - Olympic results - Aksel Lund Svindal
• Aksel Lund Svindal.com – personal site - (English)
• Norwegian Ski Team - alpine skiing - Men's World Cup - (Norwegian)
• Head Skis - teams - Aksel Lund Svindal