Svindal fastest as Jansrud joins the party in final Val Gardena training

The Norwegian speed duo of Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud were first and second in the final training run in Val Gardena/Groeden, Italy, today.

Svindal’s fastest time of 1:57.09 seconds down the Saslong was 0.24 seconds ahead of his compatriot Jansrud, and over two seconds quicker than his time from the previous day, indicating how much swifter conditions have become since yesterday’s training run.

“We will see tomorrow. Kjetil also had a very strong run today,” Svindal said after his run. “I am very relaxed and am just trying to enjoy each race this season. So let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

“I think they’ve done a very good job with the course and it is allowing everyone to ski fast,” Jansrud said of the conditions on the track. “When you look around outside you can see there’s not a lot of snow and what they have done to get it ready is great.”

Following the Norwegians were the U.S. Ski Team’s Steven Nyman and Travis Ganong who finished back-to-back for the second day in a row, this time in third and fourth place, respectively.

“It’s close. The thing with this track is aside from last year, it’s usually a pretty close race,” Nyman said in the finish. “Right now, we have Travis and Aksel and Kjetil and myself, we’re kind of ahead of the game right now, but you have to risk everything and you really have to throw down … I feel comfortable here, ever since I first laid eyes on it.”

With the Americans again showing speed on day two, this consistency bodes well for race day as Nyman seeks his fourth career win in Val Gardena and Ganong looks for his second podium of the season.

Also of note was Wiley Maple starting from bib 53. The young American failed to complete the entirety of the course set but did produce the fifth fastest time, nevertheless indicating that he has some speed to show come race day.

Jared Goldberg and Marco Sullivan again had solid training runs, improving to ninth and 11th place, respectively, giving the Americans an impressive five athletes in the top-11 racers. Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde continues to make moves from the back of the pack on the speed circuit, clocking the 16th fastest time of the day from bib 56.

Racing gets underway tomorrow with the super G scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m. CET, with live streaming available on NBC Sports Live Extra for authenticated viewers in the United States.

Fans can stay current on the World Cup circuit by downloading the new U.S. Ski Team iOS app powered by Ski Racing here.

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