Svindal leads Norwegian sweep of Val Gardena super-G
VAL GARDENA, Italy (AP) Aksel Lund Svindal had some friendly company on the podium after winning a World Cup super-G race on Friday.
Norwegian teammates Kjetil Jansrud and newcomer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde finished second and third, respectively, for an ''Attacking Vikings'' sweep of the medal places.
Adding to his record with a fourth career win in this race, Svindal clocked 1 minute, 28.12 seconds for a 0.34 seconds advantage over Jansrud.
Kilde finished third, 0.44 behind, for the best result of his career.
Jansrud won this race last year, while Kilde had never finished better than seventh on the World Cup.
Svindal, the two-time overall World Cup champion, also won this race in 2009, 2012, and 2013.
Starting with the No. 4 bib, Kilde took the early lead and held it until his more established teammates came down in the top group.
Svindal pointed to Kilde after he came down and, with Jansrud the next skier on the course, there were soon three purple-clad Norwegians in the leaders' spots.
It was the 29th World Cup win for Svindal, tying him with Stephan Eberharter for ninth on the all-time list.
Kilde finished 13th in the super-G at last year's Sochi Olympics, and matched his best previous result by finishing seventh in the super-G in Beaver Creek, Colorado, this month.
In the overall standings, Svindal moved within 23 points of leader Marcel Hirscher. Jansrud is third, 193 points behind the Austrian.
Hirscher did not race despite winning the previous super-G in Beaver Creek. American Ted Ligety also didn't enter, since the course doesn't favor technical specialists.
Despite finishing 21st in Beaver Creek two weeks ago, Svindal still has an 80-point lead over Mayer in the super-G standings, with Kilde 88 points back in third.
Olympic downhill champion Matthias Mayer of Austria finished fourth, missing the podium by 0.10.
Brice Roger of France was on course for a solid result when he lost control and fell. He got right up and appeared uninjured.
The course was made up almost entirely of artificial snow amid unusually warm weather in the Dolomites Range. Still, snow conditions were nearly perfect with the temperature 4 degrees (39 F).
The traditional downhill is scheduled for the Saslong on Saturday, followed by giant slalom and parallel GS races in nearby Alta Badia on Sunday and Monday.
Svindal has never won the Val Gardena downhill, while American Steven Nyman will be aiming to tie the record of four wins shared by Austrian great Franz Klammer and Italian standout Kristian Ghedina.
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