Aksel Lund Svindal (born 26 December 1982) is a Norwegian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in Lørenskog in Akershus county, Svindal is a two-time overall World Cup champion (2007 and 2009), an Olympic gold medalist in super-G at the 2010 Winter Olympics and in downhill at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and a five-time World Champion in downhill, giant slalom, and super combined (2007 Åre, 2009 Val-d'Isère, 2011 Garmisch, and 2013 Schladming). With his victory in the downhill in 2013, Svindal became the first male alpine racer to win titles in four consecutive world championships.[1]
 Svindal in February 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 26 December 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Alpine skier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skiing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disciplines | Downhill, super-G, giant slalom, combined | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Nero Alpin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup debut | 28 October 2001 (age 18) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 9 February 2019 (age 36) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | aksellundsvindal.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 4 – (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 4 (2 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | 8 – (2003–15, 2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medals | 9 (5 gold) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seasons | 17 – (2002–14, 2016–19) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall titles | 2 – (2007, 2009) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline titles | 9 – (2 DH, 5 SG, 1 GS, 1 K) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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He is sometimes considered the best Norwegian alpine skier ever.[citation needed] While Kjetil Andre Aamodt has been more successful at the Olympics, Svindal is by far the most successful on the World Cup circuit.
In January 2019, he announced his retirement from alpine skiing following the 2019 Ski World Championships.[2]
Career
editDuring his career, Svindal won nine World Championship medals, four Olympic medals (two of them gold), two overall World Cup and nine discipline titles (in downhill, super-G, giant slalom, and combined), and 36 World Cup races. Additionally, he won four medals at the World Junior Championships in 2002, including gold in combined.
On 27 November 2007, during the first training run for the Birds of Prey downhill race in Beaver Creek, Colorado, Svindal crashed badly after landing a jump. He somersaulted into a safety fence and was taken to Vail Valley Medical Center (now Vail Health Hospital) with broken bones in his face and a six-inch (15 cm) laceration to his groin and abdominal area. Svindal 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.[3]
At the 2009 World Championships, Svindal won the gold in the super combined. Completing 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 favourite 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.[4] He also won his fourth discipline title, his second in super G.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics on 15 February, 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 Olympics, the most for any nation.
Four days later on 19 February, Svindal won the super-G, his first-ever Olympic gold medal – ahead of Miller (+ 0.28 seconds) and Andrew Weibrecht (+ 0.31 seconds), both of the U.S.
Svindal successfully defended his world title in the super combined in 2011 at Garmish-Partenkirchen, Germany.[5]
After an Achilles tendon injury in October 2014,[6] Svindal did not compete in World Cup events during the 2015 season. He did enter the World Championships in Colorado in February,[6] and placed sixth in both the downhill and super-G events.
After his season long injury, Svindal had a very strong start to the 2016 season. He managed seven world cup victories before he sustained a season-ending knee injury under tough conditions in Kitzbühel, Austria.[7]
After a fairly good start to the 2016–2017 season including 1 World Cup win, for the third straight season he suffered a season ending/interrupting injury, and this time missed both the majority of the World Cup season and the 2017 World Alpine Ski Championships.
He won another Olympic Gold in the downhill event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, becoming the oldest ever Alpine skiing gold medallist.
In his final race, the downhill at the 2019 World Alpine Ski Championships in Åre in February of that year, Svindal finished second in a Norwegian one-two, being pipped to the gold by team-mate Kjetil Jansrud by a margin of two hundredths of a second.[8]
Personal life
editSvindal dated alpine racer Julia Mancuso of the U.S. for three years, until the couple split up in September 2013.
Svindal has been in a relationship with Danish-Norwegian hurdler Amalie Iuel since 2020.[9] The couple welcomed their first child, a son, in September 2023. [10] A month later, they announced their engagement. [11]
In his spare time, he devotes himself to freeskiing, and has already appeared in several freeskiing film documentaries.[12]
One of his best friends is his teammate Kjetil Jansrud.
World Cup results
editSeason titles
edit11 titles: (2 overall, 2 Downhill, 5 Super-G, 1 Giant slalom, 1 Combined)
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Super-G |
| 2007 | Overall |
| Giant slalom | |
| Combined | |
| 2009 | Overall |
| Super-G | |
| 2012 | Super-G |
| 2013 | Downhill |
| Super-G | |
| 2014 | Downhill |
| Super-G |
Season standings
edit| Season | Age | Overall | Slalom | Giant slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 20 | 39 | 38 | 26 | 23 | 58 | 4 |
| 2004 | 21 | 19 | 41 | 19 | 15 | 36 | 6 |
| 2005 | 22 | 21 | 37 | 17 | 11 | 30 | — |
| 2006 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 7 |
| 2007 | 24 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| 2008 | 25 | 40 | 50 | 19 | 22 | 45 | — |
| 2009 | 26 | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
| 2010 | 27 | 4 | 54 | 8 | 3 | 7 | — |
| 2011 | 28 | 4 | 59 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 5 |
| 2012 | 29 | 3 | — | 11 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 2013 | 30 | 2 | 47 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2014 | 31 | 2 | — | 16 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 2015 | 32 | injured: did not compete | |||||
| 2016 | 33 | 5 | — | 27 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 2017 | 34 | 35 | — | — | 18 | 15 | — |
| 2018 | 35 | 3 | — | — | 3 | 2 | — |
| 2019 | 36 | 20 | — | — | 7 | 10 | — |
- Standings through 17 March 2019
Race victories
edit36 wins – (14 DH, 17 SG, 4 GS, 1 SC)
| Season | Date | Location | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 27 November 2005 |  Lake Louise, Canada |
Super-G |
| 15 March 2006 |  Åre, Sweden |
Downhill | |
| 2007 | 30 November 2006 |  Beaver Creek, USA |
Super combined |
| 21 December 2006 |  Hinterstoder, Austria |
Giant slalom | |
| 14 March 2007 |  Lenzerheide, Switzerland |
Downhill | |
| 15 March 2007 | Super-G | ||
| 17 March 2007 | Giant slalom | ||
| 2008 | 28 October 2007 | Sölden, Austria |
Giant slalom |
| 25 November 2007 | Lake Louise, Canada |
Super-G | |
| 2009 | 5 December 2008 | Beaver Creek, USA |
Downhill |
| 6 December 2008 | Super-G | ||
| 11 March 2009 | Åre, Sweden |
Downhill | |
| 2010 | 18 December 2009 |  Val Gardena, Italy |
Super-G |
| 2011 | 8 January 2011 | Adelboden, Switzerland |
Giant slalom |
| 2012 | 27 November 2011 | Lake Louise, Canada |
Super-G |
| 14 March 2012 | Schladming, Austria |
Downhill | |
| 2013 | 24 November 2012 | Lake Louise, Canada |
Downhill |
| 25 November 2012 | Super-G | ||
| 14 December 2012 | Val Gardena, Italy |
Super-G | |
| 25 January 2013 | Kitzbühel, Austria |
Super-G | |
| 3 March 2013 |  Kvitfjell, Norway |
Super-G | |
| 2014 | 1 December 2013 | Lake Louise, Canada |
Super-G |
| 6 December 2013 | Beaver Creek, USA |
Downhill | |
| 20 December 2013 | Val Gardena, Italy |
Super-G | |
| 29 December 2013 | Bormio, Italy |
Downhill | |
| 2016 | 28 November 2015 | Lake Louise, Canada |
Downhill |
| 29 November 2015 | Super-G | ||
| 4 December 2015 | Beaver Creek, USA |
Downhill | |
| 18 December 2015 | Val Gardena, Italy |
Super-G | |
| 19 December 2015 | Downhill | ||
| 16 January 2016 | Wengen, Switzerland |
Downhill | |
| 22 January 2016 | Kitzbühel, Austria |
Super-G | |
| 2018 | 2 December 2017 | Beaver Creek, USA |
Downhill |
| 16 December 2017 | Val Gardena, Italy |
Downhill | |
| 19 January 2018 | Kitzbühel, Austria |
Super-G | |
| 2019 | 14 December 2018 | Val Gardena, Italy
|
Super-G |
World Championship results
edit| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 20 | – | 5 | DNF | 22 | — | ||
| 2005 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2007 | 24 | DNF1 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2009 | 26 | — | 9 | 3 | 11 | 1 | ||
| 2011 | 28 | — | 4 | DNF | 5 | 1 | ||
| 2013 | 30 | — | 4 | 3 | 1 | DNF2 | ||
| 2015 | 32 | — | — | 6 | 6 | — | ||
| 2017 | 34 | did not compete | ||||||
| 2019 | 36 | — | — | 16 | 2 | — | ||
Olympic results
edit| Year | Age | Slalom | Giant slalom |
Super-G | Downhill | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 23 | DNF2 | 6 | 5 | 21 | DNF SL1 |
| 2010 | 27 | — | 3 | 1 | 2 | DNF2 |
| 2014 | 31 | — | — | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| 2018 | 35 | — | — | 5 | 1 | DNS2 |
References
edit- ^ "Svindal spectacular in winning World DH title". Ski Racing.com. 9 February 2013.
- ^ "Aksel Lund Svindal verkündet Karriereende" (in German). Laola1. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
- ^ "COMPETITORS HAVING MORE THAN ONE PODIUM". fis-ski.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
- ^ www.gazzetta.it Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – 14 March 2009
- ^ Ski Racing.com Archived 10 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Svindal defends super combi gold at Worlds – 14 February 2011
- ^ a b McMillan, Kelley (3 February 2015). "Aksel Lund Svindal set to compete at Alpine Championships". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ "Aksel Lund Svindal out for season after World Cup crash". Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016. – Aksel Lund Svindal out for season after World Cup crash – 24 January 2016
- ^ "Aksel Lund Svindal beaten by teammate Kjetil Jansrud in his final race". ESPN.com. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ "Iuel og Svindal er kjærester". Aftenposten. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- ^ "Amalie Iuel og Aksel Lund Svindal er blitt foreldre: – Nyter tiden i babyboblen". www.vg.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). 6 September 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
- ^ "Aksel Lund Svindal og Amalie Iuel har forlovet seg". www.vg.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). 8 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
- ^ "The Evolution of a Freeskier - Aksel Lund Svindal". YouTube. 23 December 2019. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
External links
edit
Media related to Aksel Lund Svindal at Wikimedia Commons
- Aksel Lund Svindal at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
- Aksel Lund Svindal World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
- Aksel Lund Svindal at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
- Aksel Lund Svindal at Olympics.com
- Aksel Lund Svindal at Olympedia
- Norwegian Ski Team – alpine skiing – Aksel Lund Svindal – (in Norwegian)
- Head Skis – teams – Aksel Lund Svindal
- Official website – (in English)
