Alpine skiing-Svindal plugs the gap in his list of achievements

WENGEN, Switzerland, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Aksel Lund Svindal added a rare piece of silverware missing from his crowded trophy cabinet on Saturday when he overcame the opposition and foggy weather to claim downhill victory on the treacherous Lauberhorn course for the first time. The 33-year-old Norwegian, twice an overall World Cup winner and with five World Championship gold medals to his name, finished in 1.48.79 minutes, 0.19 seconds ahead of second-placed Austrian Hannes Reichelt. Early pacesetter Klaus Kroell, also from Austria, was a distant third 1.52 seconds behind Svindal, who celebrated his 31st overall World Cup race win and his 12th downhill. Fellow Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud, who won Friday's combined event, finished a disappointing 12th after the first of two delays due to heavy fog which at one stage threatened to force the organisers to abandon the race on the classic course. The outcome catapulted Svindal to the top of the overall World Cup standings on 816 points, 15 ahead of Austria's Marcel Hirscher who specialises in slalom and giant slalom. Svindal also leads the downhill standings with 436 points, with Reichelt and Frenchman Guillermo Fayed trailing in his wake on 228 each. Kroell, who started fourth on one of the world's most demanding downhill courses, saw off several more fancied rivals before Svindal produced a perfect run to snatch the lead. The race was interrupted for the first time shortly before Jansrud's run as the fog descended. When the race restarted, the 30-year-old Norwegian could not find the rhythm for a podium finish. Soon afterwards, there was a second interruption of nearly an hour before the final 36 racers were allowed to ski. (Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; editing by Clare Fallon)