Speed seems to come natural to Aksel Lund Svindal.
2 Olympic gold medals. 5 world championships. 36 world cup race wins. Most of them in speed events.
But the question is: does being great in one category give you an edge in another?
And what does it take to tame speed?
Distribution: Viaplay
Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Canada and the United States of America
I spoke to Aksel about fear, speed and controlling speed a while back - I had assumed that to be able do come back and win on the same slope where he had come close to dying a year earlier means that he somehow doesn’t feel fear like the rest of us. But he assured me that he had been scared to death that day in 2008, his brain was begging him to take it easy, to slow down - but he, somehow, had the ability not to listen to his brain and push, full speed ahead. It was almost like he could tame the speed -or, at least, his mind.
When I learned that Aksel would start a new career as a race car driver I immediately jumped on the idea to make a documentary about it.
Driving racing cars is a new environment for him - but there are similarities to downhill skiing. You chose a racing line, you work with aerodynamics and high tech equipment.
Will his experience with speed give him an edge even though he is a beginner? Is it possible to tame speed? And if so, what does that really mean?
Director: Erik Stenborg