Aksel Lund Svindal makes sensational comeback in Beaver Creek

Around a year after his serious crash during training for the World Cup downhill on the spectacular “Birds of Prey“ course at the Beaver Creek ski resort in the US, Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal made a fairytale comeback on that very same slope last weekend. Last year, Svindal had started the season as one of the top favorites for the overall Alpine World Cup title, but his crash in Beaver Creek left him with such severe injuries that at one point he even feared he might have to end his career. Now he has won in Beaver Creek by the tiny margin of just 6/100ths of a second ahead of Liechtenstein’s Marco Büchl.

Aksel Lund Svindal’s triumph on the “Birds of Prey“ course in Beaver Creek is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular comebacks in alpine skiing history. Even Büchl, who finished in second place, was delighted for his Norwegian colleague and called it a story worthy of Hollywood, one he had “fortunately” not ruined. Now 37, Büchl is one of the oldest competitors on the Alpine skiing circuit, and last winter, at the age of 36, he became the oldest downhill winner in World Cup history.

Things once again went anything but to plan for local favorite Bode Miller in Beaver Creek. As in the Super-G in Lake Louise, Canada, the previous week, Bode Miller pushed too hard and crashed. Miller had won in Beaver Creek in 2004 and 2006, and until his crash he was within striking distance of eventual winner Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.