Aksel Lund Svindal has to be patient

Manuèle Lang 29.11.2007 08:35 Uhr

Good news and bad news about Aksel Lund Svindal who in now recovering at Vail Valley Medical Center. The good news is that the Norwegian World Cup Champion has been successfully operated on Tuesday after his horrendous crash in the first training run and that he suffers no major injury besides the one listed on the official press release given out by VVF Press Officer John’s Dakin. There it says: He broke his nose and cheek bones in three different places as well as making a cut deep into his upper left leg with his ski dur­ing the crash."

The bad news is that Svindal, the defending Super-combined winner at Beaver creek, may have to rest for almost a month now.

“We are glad that things went fine after his crash, the operation was successful, but now Aksel has to be patient. It’s unlikely that he can start some training before several weeks,” said the Norwegian Team Doctor Ola Ronsen. “He may be able to race again early January! The most important is that his cut at his left leg doesn’t get infected. He needs some rest now.”

Aksel who is now likely to miss a quarter of the 2008 World Cup scheduled (11 races until Adelboden) should be flying back home later on this weekend – in first class since he can’t sit on this bottom because of his upper left leg injury.

Norway’s ski press veteran Trygve Sundboe from the important VG newspapers managed to speak to Aksel earlier today.

“Aksel told me that he was OK considering the situation and that it was a tough crash,” said Sundboe. “He also said that he took a too direct line prior that jump and that he landed hard on his skis before losing his balance. He crashed into the nets and hurt his face when he hit a pole in the net. He also said that he was sort of pleased to have been the fastest at that point and that he hopes to recover soon.”

“The face injuries are not too bad considering the circumstances and eventually they would not prevent him to compete here but the cut at his leg is too deep to allow him any hope to ski soon,” Sundboe added. “I would say he remains calm and optimistic for his future.”

An Austrian cameraman from ORF apparently shot the scene – so there is video footage on that accident. It has been given out to other TV stations. “You can clearly see that he flew high in the air and lost control of his line before landing on his back and his neck, he was pretty lucky,” said an Austrian TV reporter.

It’s not the first time that Svindal suffers such a setback – two years ago he broke a rib in a crash while training at Val Gardena. That very painful injury didn’t prevent him to continue racing for a while but certainly cost him much energy and eventually a medal at the 2006 Olympics at Sestriere and a chance to battle for the Overall World Cup title.

After a slow comeback in January/February, Svindal returned at the top in March winning the last downhill at Are and the Super-G World Cup title with a superb 2nd place at the Finals.

Aksel colleagues were all disappointed by his accident and they all wish him good luck in his recovery. “It’s too bad, he such a wonderfull character and we will miss him. He is a great World Cup contender and so good for our sport,” said Benjamin Raich, Aksel’s toughest rival last winter.

"Skier like him makes everything more interesting - for us and the public. I don’t want to think that my chances to clinch another overall title are now better. There are still many races left and many excellent skiers at the start. We don’t race against each other on the slope but against yourself,” gracefully added the 2006 World Cup champion who fully respects Svindal’s class and personality. “I hope to see him soon on the slopoe again.”