Aksel Lund Svindal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Aksel Lund Svindal

Alpine skier
Svindal in February 2011
Disciplines	Downhill, super-G, giant slalom, combined
Club	Nero Alpin
Born	(1982-12-26) 26 December 1982 (age 42)
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
World Cup debut	28 October 2001 (age 18)
Retired	9 February 2019 (age 36)
Website	aksellundsvindal.com
Olympics
Teams	4 – (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Medals	4 (2 gold)
World Championships
Teams	8 – (2003–15, 2019)
Medals	9 (5 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	17 – (2002–14, 2016–19)
Wins	36 – (14 DH, 17 SG, 4 GS, 1 SC)
Podiums	80
Overall titles	2 – (2007, 2009)
Discipline titles	9 – (2 DH, 5 SG, 1 GS, 1 K)
Medal record International alpine ski competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 1 1 World Championships 5 2 2 World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Slalom 0 0 0 Giant 4 2 4 Super-G 17 6 7 Downhill 14 8 10 Combined 1 2 4 Parallel 0 1 0 Olympic Games Gold 2010 Vancouver Super-G Gold 2018 Pyeongchang Downhill Silver 2010 Vancouver Downhill Bronze 2010 Vancouver Giant slalom World Championships Gold 2007 Åre Downhill Gold 2007 Åre Giant slalom Gold 2009 Val-d'Isère Combined Gold 2011 Garmisch Combined Gold 2013 Schladming Downhill Silver 2005 Bormio Combined Silver 2019 Åre Downhill Bronze 2009 Val-d'Isère Super-G Bronze 2013 Schladming Super-G Junior World Ski Championships Gold 2002 Tarvisio Combined Silver 2002 Tarvisio Super-G Bronze 2002 Tarvisio Downhill Bronze 2002 Tarvisio Slalom

Aksel Lund Svindal (born 26 December 1982) is a famous former alpine ski racer from Norway. He is known for being one of the best skiers ever. Aksel won many big competitions during his career.

He won the overall World Cup title twice, in 2007 and 2009. He also earned two Olympic gold medals. One was in super-G at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The other was in downhill at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Aksel also became a World Champion five times. He won titles in downhill, giant slalom, and super combined events.

Many people think Aksel is the greatest Norwegian alpine skier of all time. He had more success in the World Cup than any other Norwegian skier. In January 2019, Aksel announced he was retiring from skiing. His last race was at the 2019 Ski World Championships.

Aksel Lund Svindal's Skiing Career

Aksel Lund Svindal had an amazing career. He won a total of nine medals at the World Championships. He also earned four Olympic medals, including two gold. Aksel won two overall World Cup titles and nine smaller titles in different skiing events. These events included downhill, super-G, giant slalom, and combined. He also won 36 World Cup races. Before all this, he won four medals at the World Junior Championships in 2002. One of these was a gold medal in the combined event.

A Serious Injury and Comeback

In November 2007, Aksel had a very bad crash. This happened during a training run for a downhill race in Beaver Creek, Colorado. He crashed into a safety fence. Aksel was taken to the hospital with injuries to his face and body. Because of this, he missed the rest of the 2008 skiing season.

But Aksel is a true champion! He worked hard to recover. He returned to World Cup racing in October 2008. His first two wins after his injury were special. He won a downhill and a super-G race in Beaver Creek. This was the same course where he had his accident the year before.

Svindal's silver medal downhill run at the 2010 Olympics in Whistler

Winning More Titles

At the 2009 World Championships, Aksel won a gold medal in the super combined event. This showed how strong his comeback was. In the 2009 season, he won his second overall World Cup title. It was a very close race against Benjamin Raich from Austria. Aksel won by just two points in the very last race of the season. He also won his fourth title in the super-G event that year.

Olympic Glory

Aksel continued his success at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler. On February 15, he won a silver medal in the downhill race. He was only 0.07 seconds behind the winner! This medal was Norway's 100th silver medal at the Winter Olympics.

Just four days later, on February 19, Aksel won his first-ever Olympic gold medal in the super-G event. He was faster than two American skiers, Bode Miller and Andrew Weibrecht.

More World Championship Wins and Later Career

Aksel successfully defended his world title in the super combined event in 2011. This win happened in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

In October 2014, Aksel had another injury, this time to his Achilles tendon. He couldn't compete in World Cup events during the 2015 season. However, he still competed in the World Championships in February. He finished sixth in both the downhill and super-G races.

Aksel had a great start to the 2016 season. He won seven World Cup races. But then he got another knee injury in Kitzbühel, Austria. This injury ended his season early. He also missed most of the 2017 season and the 2017 World Championships due to injury.

Despite these challenges, Aksel won another Olympic gold medal in the downhill event at the 2018 Winter Olympics. This made him the oldest male alpine skier to win an Olympic gold medal.

In his final race, the downhill at the 2019 World Championships in Åre, Aksel finished second. He was just two hundredths of a second behind his teammate, Kjetil Jansrud. It was a great way to end his career.

Aksel Lund Svindal's Personal Life

Aksel Lund Svindal dated American alpine skier Julia Mancuso for three years. They broke up in September 2013.

Since 2020, Aksel has been in a relationship with Danish-Norwegian hurdler Amalie Iuel. They welcomed their first child, a son, in September 2023. A month later, they announced they were engaged to be married.

When he's not skiing, Aksel enjoys freeskiing. He has even appeared in some freeskiing movies. One of his best friends is his teammate, Kjetil Jansrud.

Images for kids

• 

  Svindal in February 2011

• 

  Svindal's silver medal downhill run at the 2010 Olympics in Whistler

See also

In Spanish: Aksel Lund Svindal para niños