VAL GARDENA, Italy (AP) — Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway led the opening training session Wednesday for the annual downhill on the Saslong course.
Svindal clocked 1 minute, 58.73 seconds. Downhill world champion Erik Guay of Canada was second, 0.04 seconds behind, and Klaus Kroell of Austria was 0.10 back in third. Two racers fell and were injured.
Patrick Schweiger of Austria tore ligaments and broke the meniscus in his left knee and was scheduled for surgery Thursday, while Andy Plank of Italy dislocated his left shoulder and was undergoing tests at a local hospital.
Another training session is scheduled for Thursday, followed by a super-G Friday and the downhill race Saturday. The circuit then traverses the Gardena pass for a giant slalom in Alta Badia on Sunday.
Svindal won the super-G here in 2009 but has never finished better than sixth in the downhill. Svindal won the opening downhill of the season in Lake Louise, Alberta, and finished second to Christof Innerhofer in the second race in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
Innerhofer was 23rd Wednesday.
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