A 35-year-old Norwegian just became the oldest Olympic ski champion ever — and his run was so fast it would break the South Korean speed limit

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February 15, 2018 4:32 PM

Aksel Lund Svindal became the oldest Olympic ski champion ever and hit a speed so fast it would have gotten him a fine on the South Korean roads.

A 35-year-old Norwegian etched his name into the history books on Thursday.
Aksel Lund Svindal won gold in the downhill event and became the oldest Olympic alpine skiing champion of all time.
At one point, Svindal accelerated to 125 km/ hour — a speed that would have resulted in a fine had he travelled that fast on the South Korean expressways.
The only problem is that the police would first have to catch him.

Norwegian athlete Aksel Lund Svindal just became the oldest Olympic alpine skiing champion ever at 35 years old.

Svindal was seventh out of the gate in the men's downhill event on Thursday and quickly picked up a blistering speed once he got going down the mountain.

With a finish time of 1 minute and 40.25 seconds, he was the fastest to cross the line.

Downhill skiing is one of the five forms of alpine skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Slalom, giant slalom, super giant slalom, and combined all emphasise skills such as turning and technique, but it is speed that's essential in downhill skiing.

Svindal, for instance, accelerated to 125 km/hour during his gold medal-winning run.

This hair-raising speed would have resulted in a fine had he travelled that fast by car through South Korea, where the maximum speed allowed on the expressways is 120 km/hour.

You can watch Svindal's history-making run right here:

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