One of Norway’s best-loved and longest-serving winter athletes has made history, winning his first Olympic gold at the Pyeongchang Games at the ripe old age of 35 — while becoming the first Norwegian to win an Alpine event.
Alpine skier Aksel Lund Svindal won the Men’s Downhill with an assured run and a time of 1:40.25, pushing aside Swiss favorite Beat Feuz, who had to settle for Bronze.
Kjetil Jansrud joined them on the podium for silver, giving Norway the top two spots after the Norwegians overtook Feuz’s time in quick succession.
Jansrud, with whom Svindal shares a deep and abiding friendship, came in 0.12 seconds slower than his compatriot.
With this Downhill triumph, Svindal has engineered what will almost be certainly be a fairytale conclusion to his storied Olympic career.
With Pyeongchang, he’s now a veteran of four Games, he made his Olympic debut in Turin in 2006 — and his World Championship pedigree goes back to 2003.
Role model
He was also his country’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2014, and as far back as 2009 was named Role Model of the Year at that year’s Norwegian Sports Gala.
“I’m a skier who believes there’s always a force that drives you to get better and faster,” he told energy drink and sports sponsor Red Bull last year.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for ski-obsessed Norway, he comes from a family of skiers and received his first pair of skis on his third birthday, according to his personal website.
His mother tragically died in childbirth when he was eight, and he was raised in part by his grandparents while his father worked.
“Every holiday we went to Geilo (a ski destination in Norway) and stayed with my grandparents at their cabin, where I learned to ski.
“As I got a little older we would also go skiing at the smaller hills around Oslo on normal weekday evenings and at the weekends.”