Norway’s Jansrud wins Val Gardena super-G

Olympic champion Kjetil Jansrud and Norwegian teammate Aleksander Aamodt Kilde finished 1-2 in a super-G yesterday to extend their country’s recent dominance in Val Gardena - and in the World Cup speed events.

It could have been another podium sweep for the “Attacking Vikings” but Aksel Lund Svindal wasted a fast start to his run with two major mistakes, ultimately skiing through a gate and not finishing.

Jansrud clocked 1 minute, 31.99 seconds down the Saslong course, finishing 0.06 seconds ahead of Kilde and 0.13 in front of Canadian veteran Erik Guay. Olympic downhill champion Matthias Mayer of Austria finished fourth, 0.48 behind, as he returned to the site of a horrific crash a year ago which ended his season. Olympic combined champion Sandro Viletta was airlifted off the course by helicopter after crashing and brought to a local hospital. It wasn’t immediately clear what type of injuries the Swiss racer had.

Jansrud has now won all three speed races this season. He swept a super-G and downhill in Val d’Isere, France, earlier this month. Last year in Val Gardena, Svindal, Jansrud and Kilde finished 1-2-3 for Norway in the super-G. Norwegians have won the Val Gardena super-G five consecutive times, with Svindal posting three victories and Jansrud two. — AP