ALPINE SKI. With 4 days to go to the Alpine World Cup opening in Sölden, Aksel Lund Svindal is ready to kick off the season. With a lot of travelling over the summer, Aksel shares his thoughts about the crystal globe, why he is more tanned than Kjetil Jansrud and why Ted Ligety would have been his competitor in the boxing ring.

Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR), photo © AGENCE ZOOM

To get started, a quick review of the coming season is necessary. As this season is an “in between” World Championships and Olympics, there’s one main goal this year: the large crystal globe. Last year, Aksel came fourth in the overall ranking, with the smallest margin of 4 points differentiating him from Carlo Janka (SUI) who finished third. With the show Ivica Kostelic (CRO) put on last year, Aksel is quite modest when talking about the globe. Although many industry experts, including the Norwegian Alpine Sports Director, tip that Aksel will win the large crystal globe this year.

“He really said that? Claus? Well, that’s not very modest of him” Aksel replies. “To me, there’s just one boss right now, and that’s Kostelic. If I and the others can prevent him from winning all there is to win in January like he did last year, I think we have a fair chance. Janka and Cuche are definitely fighting for it, and I will of course do what I want to win it myself, but I will not say that I share Claus’ statement”.

Even though Aksel is being modest about the crystal globe, there is one thing he can’t control: the fans love him. Just over a week ago, the FIS Hilton Charity Gala was hosted in Zürich where all benefits went to Right to Play, where Aksel is one of the athlete ambassadors. One of the items for auction was one day of skiing with the Champion himself, and it was bought for nothing less than 20 000 CHF. Giving something back to people who need it is important to Aksel, but he is very concerned about using opportunities like this for the right purposes.

“If I spend one day of skiing with a group of people who also love to ski, that does not cost me much. Knowing that it will make a huge difference to the work Right to Play works for is much more important” Aksel says. “I’m asked to do all sorts of things for charity, promotion or other related things. When Right to Play asked if I wanted to do it, I wanted to contribute with something, because I know the effort they put into their work is tremendous” he says.

Jumping back in time, the Norwegian Ski Team spent two weeks in Chile for one of their training camps this summer. Following the blog of Aksel and Kjetil Jansrud, there’s a rivalry going on – on more than one level. Jansrud was put back with a sore back and couldn’t train as much, and could quite happily write “After arriving last Saturday we have been blessed with some of the best days I have ever had. Basically, this means that half of the day is spent training, while the rest of the day is like being on a vacation”.

Aksel on the other hand didn’t quite agree… “After reading Kjetil's blog, it seems to me that he has more time than me to enjoy the beautiful weather we have here in Chile. He claims to be on a summer vacation between 13.00 and 16.30. Doesn’t feel that way to me. With journalists both from TV, newspaper and Outdoor magazines here, there is plenty to do. Kjetil also hurt his back a few days ago. It's a lot better now, but reading his blog it sure seems he has been enjoying his days off”.

Asking him if the World Cup preparations are like a playground for them, he laughs and says “Chile was great both in terms of skiing and how the program was laid up for us. To me it wasn’t enough with one day off though, and I guess we should ask Kjetil for advice next year when planning for an extra day off. He seems to know how to make the most of it no matter where he’s located”!

Speaking about making the most of it, it seems like being the most tanned is an important element of the Norwegian team. Looking at the various photos from this summer, it looks like you had the best tan during the summer overall. Do Jansrud and the other guys actually get tanned?

 “Hahahaha, I’ve spent quite a bit of time on Hawaii, so compared to the others who stayed in Norway I surely caught some more sun than them. Jansrud works hard to get tanned though, actually a bit too hard. We’re not exactly sure if it’s all real or if he’s using sun beds. Let’s just put it this way; Jansrud is not the one with the most pigment in his body. There must be something else to it”.

Last year, Aksel, as many other skiers, grew a moustache during the month of “movember” to raise awareness and funds for a men’s health charity. This became a big hit around the world, although Aksel’s fans may prefer him clean-shaven. In Aksel’s home country however, they loved this campaign and decided to add a little something to it by asking if Aksel could be the ambassador.

 “I will surely grow a moustache in “movember” this year as well, but me as an ambassador? That will never happen. I think there are a lot of other people who can grow a much better moustache than I can”.

Following Aksel’s blog, he had a busy summer doing everything from kite surfing, windsurfing, biking, strength training and pretty much flying around the world. He’s also been part of another freeski movie that was launched a few weeks ago, where some of the scenes were shot in the Northern part of Norway. Aksel has more than once been referred to as a great freeskier, but does not want to talk about having found a new career. Yet.

“It is always an extra bonus for me to be part of making films like this. If I have time I am more than willing to do it, but I would not let it affect my season preparations. Getting the chance to ski in Northern Norway with some of the best skiers in the world is absolutely amazing though, and I had a great time. If I had more time I would probably have done it more, but for now Alpine Skiing is the most important to me”.

Now, four days to go, and the World Cup circus starts again. Emotions are building up, and the athletes will be gathered for the first time in seven months. Aksel seems to be focusing on what’s ahead of him, and not what happened last season. Nevertheless, there is one question left to be answered: If you had to choose between Kostelic (who won the overall globe), Ligety (who snapped the GS globe ahead of Svindal) and your long-time rival, Didier Cuche, who would you want to meet in a boxing ring?

“Ouch, I really have to choose? Ted Ligety. If you think of it, Kostelic is really “the beast from the east” – I mean, he’s a big guy. And Cuche… I can picture him getting a bit too intense in the boxing ring, as if he were to lose his mind. With Ligety, I would have had more problems by actually hitting him, because he’s such a good guy and then I would have hoped he would have the same problem with me”.

The AUDI FIS Alpine World Cup starts in Sölden on Saturday with the ladies giant slalom followed by the men’s giant slalom on Sunday.

FISalpine.com
Monday 17 October 2011