Intro:

Injured world downhill champion Aksel Lund Svindal spoke ahead of the new FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup season in Solden, Austria, on Thursday (23 October).

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English): Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian alpine skiier:

"Yeah, I tore my Achilles. Just, I don't know really, out running with the rest of the team and then we were just playing around with a ball afterwards, didn't even play football - just playing around. And then all of a sudden it snapped, yeah. I felt it right away, I knew my Achilles was gone. As an athlete, I feel like... Within one second, you're like 'what just happened?' My Achilles, how long will this be? Probably most of the winter. And that sucks. That's like, all the reaction within one second, and after that you've just got to be smart and get to the hospital quick, as soon as you can, to do some damage control."

SOUNDBITE (English): Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian alpine skiier (on whether he will return in time for the 2015 World Championship):

"I mean, I like to stay positive. If you asked a doctor he would probably say that's too early, but who knows? We'll just do our best, I'll do my best, and then we'll see what happens."

SOUNDBITE (English): Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian alpine skiier:

"The condition is that my Achilles is torn and it just got stitched back together, and I think that (recovery) usually takes three months before you can ski, so now I don't really know anything else more than that. Then we'll just see what happens."