Svindal makes history with third super-G win

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal became the first racer to win three World Cup super-G races on the Saslong course at Val Gardena with a dominant victory on Friday. The overall World Cup leader, the reigning world downhill champion and super-G bronze medallist, chalked up his 24th career victory as he clocked a fastest time of 1min 35.82sec. Jan Hudec of Canada was second at a massive 0.58sec, with Frenchman Adrien Theaux taking third, a further 0.33sec adrift. The duo were the sole racers to finish within one second of Svindal's winning time. It was a third World Cup win of the season for the Norwegian and it consolidated his lead atop the overall standings. "Val Gardena Super G. This place has always been good to me!!! Thanks everyone. Also got my red leader bib back," tweeted Svindal. "I'm very happy but it was a tough race. There was a lot of action on the course today due to all the terrain. You had to do a good inspection and make a good plan to be fast today. "The snow is always great here and I like the preparation. It's always perfect and you can tell by all the guys with high numbers making their way to the top of the rankings. "Val Gardena has always been good to me: in 2002 I was sixth here in the first World Cup super-G I ever started, it was my first top 10 and it marked my big breakthrough." Hudec's last victory came at the Chamonix downhill in 2012 and the Canadian has been struggling to find a strong finish in super-G ever since his second place in Crans Montana the same year. "I'm stoked I was able to ski the way I wanted to ski," he said. "I finally have no pain and that gives me great confidence to push hard and ski to my full potential. "I was super focused today and I avoided any mistakes, which I made in Lake Louise and Beaver creek. Also my skis were perfect today, I knew that without major mistakes I could be on the podium." Theaux made a welcome return to the podium after finishing out of the top 15 since his third place in the Lake Louise downhill earlier this month. "I hope this means I am back on track, on the way to where I want to be," Theaux said. "It was difficult to ski even though the course set was easy. You had to make your turns in the right places. "I was not happy with the downhill training but it's an opportunity to learn and I am happy today I used some of those lessons." Source: AFP