'Attacking Vikings' are coming, warns Svindal

In-form speed king Aksel Lund Svindal fired out a broadside at rivals ahead of next month's World Championships, saying he would bid to lead a team of "attacking Vikings" on a medal-pillaging raid. Svindal has been in electric form in the speed events this season, winning Friday's World Cup super-G in Kitzbuehel for a third victory in the season in the discipline and a 20th career win in all disciplines. And the 30-year-old Olympic super-G champion warned that he was planning to add to his already impressive world championships medal haul of four golds (super-combined 2009 and 2011, downhill 2007, giant slalom 2007), one silver (combined 2005) and one bronze (super-G 2009). "For sure you want to be fast," he said after his super-G win here in reference to the February 4-17 world championships in the neighbouring Austrian resort of Schladming. "I looked at it (the schedule) this morning. Now I have super-G and downhill in Kitzbuehel, then it's straight on to super-G and downhill in the world championships. "They're four races in a row I have a good chance to win." Svindal added: "If you look at one race separately, it's easier to get nervous and think that shit can happen, but if it's four races it's a little easier to get over the bad luck card that I drew in Wengen (when he fell). "This win is a good preparation for the worlds. This race also showed that if you want to win races, you have to really want it. "I mean, I wanted it, but not as much as these two guys on the toughest part of the course and I almost lost it because of that," he said, referring to Matthias Mayer and Christof Innerhofer, who finished second and third in the super-G. "It just shows that if you want to win the World Championships (you have to push it) because if you're fourth today you get 50 World Cup points - it's not a podium but for the standings it's not a bad day. "If you get 50 World Cup points in the World Championships, they're useless, they don't count for anything. "There's going to be tonnes of guys getting after it and then whoever can pull it off can win the race." Svindal's teammate Kjetil Jansrud finished fourth in the super-G, just 0.64sec off the winning time of 1:14.48. And the 27-year-old Jansrud seems to be coming into the form of his career which has seen him claim just one World Cup victory (super-G in Kvitfjell in 2012) and 11 podium finishes. "The race was cool but I'm not too happy with my fourth place, of course. I mean fourth place is good but it's a little bitter, I'd like to be on the podium," he said. "But two out of the first four places is good for Norway and us being a small team I feel that's a start. "Both of us are top four. We could always do one and two (1st and 2nd place) that would be better but I think we should be very satisfied." Svindal admitted to an attack of the nerves when watching Jansrud come down the Streifalm course and briefly threaten his winning time in the super-G. "And then there was Jansrud, my own teammate who was going to try and take my win. What a guy! The first time I was going to win in Kitzbuehel and he was leading on the final split," Svindal joked of his fellow attacking Viking. From AFP