Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (30) shines in his first season as a protagonist for the Alpine national team, but acknowledges that there are gaps to fill after Kjetil Jansrud (37) and Aksel Lund Svindal (39).
AND Source Aleksander Aamodt he broke through to the top of the world with his first two World Cup victories in early 2016, he was with Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud as the national team’s leading figures.
Since then, both of the latter two have given up. First Svindal retired after WC in Swedish Åre in February 2019, before Jansrud surrendered at home in Kvitfjell in March.
Thus, it is the 30-year-old Kilde who enters the new season with the role of a sort of captain of the Norwegian mountaineers.
– There’s obviously a void to fill after the two boys, Kilde tells VG.
– Not only in terms of performance, but also as people, they are fantastic collaborators and someone I learned a lot from. For my part, I have a job ahead of me, but I feel I have a team now that is very eager to learn and be a part of the process of building the culture they stood for. I probably don’t have the worst role and I feel pretty lucky to be in that position. So far, it’s just very, very positive, continues Kilde.
The knowledge Jansrud and Svindal passed on to Kilde is in many ways reminiscent of what it was like when Svindal himself raided it some 20 years ago. Then with Lasse Kjus and Kjetil André Aamodt as protagonists.
– Knowing that what we have done before is working and that the plan we have outlined in the past has been a great winning plan is good to know in a team that is moving forward. I’ve now been around for a few years, turned 30 and gained some experience. In that sense, it’s a good time to take over, and I can try to acquire this knowledge with the support of the people around me, says Kilde and adds:
– Younger kids who arrive show they are willing to be part of the race. I think we can enjoy it for a few more years.
At least so far, everyone has enough to enjoy about Norway’s results in the 2022/23 World Cup season.
22-year-old Lucas Braathen drove at victory in the only slalom race so far, in addition to winning Giant slalom on Sunday in Alta Badia with Norway’s 200th victory in the Alpine Skiing World Cup.
Together with another 22-year-old – Atle Lie McGrath – they thundered a solid top ten positions in the super-G debut at Beaver Creek in early December.
Kilde himself took his fifth win of the season in the downhill in Val Gardena on Saturday:
The 30-year-old says it’s “a dream” to ride guys like Braathen and McGrath.
– It couldn’t have gone much better. I’m very lucky that way, and it’s not just the two of them. We have other athletes on the team who are at least as important, who contribute to a good ignition in the peloton, a good push and provide inputs that are essential to us, says Kilde.
– They’re young too, so it’s important to keep them on the ground every once in a while. They’re good for the sport and they’re good for the team. I like being a so called big brother to them. There’s a good vibe and low threshold in both directions. They dare to speak up if there is something I do, and vice versa. I think the dynamic is very good, says Kilde.
