2-time Olympic ski champ Svindal answers Norway’s call to help coach national team
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OSLO (AP) — Norwegian skiing great Aksel Lund Svindal has joined the coaching staff of the national team.
Svindal, the last Norwegian to win Olympic gold in Alpine skiing back in 2018, said he accepted a part-time position following a proposition from current members of the team.
“When athletes and coaches came to me this summer with a concrete challenge and a suggestion for how I could contribute, I thought it sounded very exciting,” said the 43-year-old Svindal, who retired from competing in 2019 because of persistent knee injuries.
Svindal, who underwent surgery in 2022 after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, was part of Lindsey Vonn’s coaching team ahead of this year’s Winter Olympics.
He was a superstar at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, winning gold in the super-G, silver in the downhill and bronze in the giant slalom. He also won gold in downhill in Pyeongchang eight years later, was a five-time gold medalist at world championships, and earned the overall World Cup title twice — in 2007 and 2009.
Norway won just two medals — a silver and a bronze — in Alpine skiing in the Milan-Cortina Olympics this year. It had four medals in the 2022 Games but no golds.
“We have a strong group of athletes and coaches who are constantly working to develop further,” said Claus Ryste, sports director for Norway’s Alpine skiing team.
“Aksel knows elite sports from both sides and knows what it takes to succeed at the very highest level. We believe he can add valuable perspectives in the work of taking new steps.”
Svindal is already with the team at a pre-camp ahead of the start of World Cup racing in Sölden, the Norwegian team said, and “will further contribute in selected periods throughout the season.”
A star who isn’t in camp is Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who ruptured his Achilles tendon during a fall in preseason downhill training in Chile last week.
“This is a program I believe in,” Svindal said, “and I feel I can contribute in several areas, even though I am not with the team every single week.”
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