Norway’s ski star Aksel Lund Svindal has announced in the context of the cancelled World Cup giant slalom in Sölden that his physical complaints brought him to the brink of retirement. While a few days ago there were reports that the 35-year-old was fit as he had been for a long time, now even a return to the World Cup is in question.
“All I can say is, yes, I do. But it’s not fixed,” Svindal told the Kleine Zeitung about a ski circus appearance. He was in a lot of pain in the spring. “It wasn’t even a functioning knee in everyday life, let alone a functioning knee for an athlete.”
Even a complete retreat and an end of his professional career was in the air. “Spring wasn’t good. The only good decision would have been to resign,” Svindal said. “That’s why I didn’t want to decide.” It was not even possible for Svindal to descend steps forward, the knees did not allow this.
That’s why he decided not to go into season preparation with the rest of the Norwegians but to train individually. The fear of being constantly reminded of the injuries was too great. Over many kilometres on the bike, the experienced cyclist regained his fitness and was last on skis for seven consecutive days in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
“That makes me feel positive, even though I realize that Saas-Fee has nothing to do with a World Cup track,” said Svindal. “You have to wait and see how the knee reacts to blows and hard pistes.”
Svindal is expected to make his first seasonal appearance on 24 and 25 November in Lake Louise, Canada, where a downhill and a Super-G are on the agenda. As in the past seven seasons, Svindal will not be taking part in the slalom weekend in Levi.