Methven, New Zealand – Three-time Olympic medalist Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway skied to victory Thursday in the Australia-New Zealand Cup (ANC) super G at Mt. Hutt ski area near Methven.nLund Svindal finished with a winning time of 1:01.38 with his Norwegian teammate, Espen Lysdahl, crossing the finish line just behind in 1:02.05. New Zealand’s rising star, Ben Griffin of Ohakune, posted a time of 1:02.07 to finish third.

Griffin continues to demonstrate his ability to compete with the best in the world, once again finishing on the podium. He finished in second Thursday behind Lund Svindal and has shown impressive form in recent weeks, gaining confidence with each race as he targets the Golden Bib that would entitle him to favorable start positions in upcoming Northern Hemisphere World Cups.

“Once again, today’s race showed what Ben is capable of,” said James Lazor, Snow Sports New Zealand Alpine Manager. “He struggled a bit at the top of the course but obviously gathered himself and had a great race overall.”

Griffin, who specializes in giant slalom and super G, made history two weeks ago when he achieved the best world ranking position for a kiwi alpine racer in 20 years on the back of his impressive performance in the giant slalom at the Air New Zealand Japanese FIS Southern Cup race held at Coronet Peak near Queenstown, New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Queenstown’s Taylor Rapley had one of her best races of the year, finishing in fourth in the women’s Super G that was won by Norway’s Lotte Smiseth Sejersted in 1:03.35.

Russia’s Anastasia Kendrina was second (1:05.31) and teammate Vladisiava Bureeva finished third (1:05.52). Rapley narrowly missed out on the podium, coming across the line in 1:05.75.

“It was great to see Taylor ski well in a highly competitive race,” said Lazor.