Norwegian alpine skier Aksel Lund Svindal is experiencing some trouble and Streif as he hits Kitzbühel...
The first thing that comes to mind is the Streif, the crazy downhill course here in Kitzbühel.
Kitzbühel is crazy in more ways than one. It’s the crazy legends around this crazy course that has created the race weekend we see here now. It' a weekend when a little town in Tirol Austria turns into the centre of attention for wintersport media, the place to be for VIPs and party central for everyone from teenagers to old downhill fans.
Sadly, Kitzbühel’s brutal reputation showed its ugly face once again with the horrible crash of Austria's Hans Grugger. Crashes are a part of our sport, but these kind of crashes shouldn’t be. We’re used to hearing about someone breaking a leg or blowing out a knee, and that’s bad enough, but when there is no news from the hospital and someone is in a coma, it’s not a sport injury anymore. Let’s hope Hans recovers well and that we’ll see him again next season.
Now over to what it really should be all about; Didier Cuche, the king of Kitzbühel. He won here last year and did it again this year - he was almost one second ahead of Bode Miller! I had good self confidence after being on the podium the day before in the Super-G, but halfway down the course I started making too many mistakes. Happily, I was soon back on track. I was fast and could even keep up with Didier the king himself.
Driving into Kitzbühel is exciting. You can feel the heart start to race, it’s like your body knows what’s coming, but leaving again also has a special feeling to it. Keeping focus on what to do in the downhill and blocking out all negative thoughts takes a lot of energy. It would be fun having more races and enjoying the party atmosphere of Kitzbühel. But, as for the course itself, I think once a year is enough!
Aksel
Want more?
- Visit Aksel Lund Svindal’s personal site
- Aksel Lund Svindal’s retro look for winter
- Aksel's last blog from Bormio
Eric Spiess/Red Bull Photofiles
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