No pain no gain for Svindal

Aksel Lund Svindal has won almost every possible accolade in his illustrious 16-year professional skiing career.

One that still eludes him though is the legendary downhill race ‘Die Streif’ on the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel.

The 2016 attempt proved particularly painful after a serious crash ruptured the ACL in his right knee and brought an end to his season.

Svindal has fought back bravely to full fitness though and leads the downhill overall standings before Saturday’s race despite still suffering the consequences of some of his injuries.

He said on the Sport & Talk TV programme: “It is not possible to ski without pain, it still hurts. The pain is not important but the speed.

“I have some injuries as a skier that will never be good anymore, but you have to deal with it. My advantage in the end is my experience in dealing with these situations.

“I am feeling better than I did in Bormio and I think I will be ready for the race.

The Norwegian has won FIS Alpine Ski World Cup individual and overall titles as well as gold, silver and bronze medals at both Olympic and World Championship level.

He says all this counts for nothing though when he takes the start line in Kitzbühel.

Twice the 35-year-old has won the Super G but he has revealed he still wants that downhill victory.

Svindal said: “I can never be relaxed for the Hahnenkamm but all things that happen in the past, you can forget.

“Of course, I want to win this race, but I think skiing is a sport in which you can want to win but in the end, you can’t influence everything as there are a lot of possibilities on the day.

“I have the experience, equipment, and won some races but I can never say ‘it must be my day’.”