Svindal boosts Olympic medal hopes with Super G win
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Josef Ferstl of Germany in action. REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler
KITZBUEHEL, AUSTRIA (Reuters) - Aksel Lund Svindal produced a majestic run on a shortened course to win a World Cup Super G race ahead of fellow Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud on Friday and boost his confidence ahead of the Feb 9-25 winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
It was Svindal's third win of the season after a pair of downhill victories last month, after he beat the tour's Super G leader Jansrud by half a second with the finish line moved uphill to preserve the course for Saturday's downhill.
Austria's Matthias Mayer finished third just 0.01 of a second ahead of fourth-placed compatriot Hannes Reichelt, who fell further behind Jansrud in the overall Super G standings as did Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr after finishing 10th.
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Adrien Theaux of France. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
The race was delayed by 90 minutes due to heavy snowfall and Jansrud must have thought he clinched it after grabbing pole position and seeing Svindal trail in the upper half of the steep and narrow course.
But the 35-year old former Olympic champion, who won three medals including the Super G gold at the 2010 games in Vancouver but failed to finish on the podium in any event four years ago in Sochi, steamrolled through the lower section.
Svindal will have a shot at completing the double on Saturday as he tops the downhill standings and will start as the favourite to win at the famous Hahnenkamm course.
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway in action. REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Hannes Reichelt of Austria in action. REUTERS/Dominic EbenbichlerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway in action. REUTERS/Dominic EbenbichlerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Beat Feuz of Switzerland and Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Matthias Mayer of Austria. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Andreas Sander of Germany and Josef Ferstl of Germany. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Peter Fill of Italy. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Blaise Giezendanner of France in action. REUTERS/Dominic EbenbichlerAlpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup - Men's Alpine Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 19, 2018. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and Matthias Mayer of Austria. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
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