Aksel Lund Svindal has some unfinished business to take care of in the men's Olympic downhill on Whistler Mountain. The Norwegian is drawing extra motivation from a couple of setbacks from last season as he prepares for the signature Alpine event of the Vancouver Games on Feb. 13. Bad weather conditions robbed him of a sporting chance to win the downhill at last year's world championships, and Svindal is still a bit peeved about being barred by Canadian officials from inspecting the Olympic course during a visit last spring. Not that the two-time overall World Cup champion needs extra reasons for craving his first Olympic gold. 'The downhill is special,' the 27-year-old Svindal said in a recent interview. 'I hope we get good, fair conditions and a tight race.' Svindal has bad memories of the world championship downhill last February when he and fellow former winners Bode Miller and Michael Walchhofer had to race in a soup of fog pouring across Val d'Isere, France. Unable to pick the fastest race line in the worsening light, the trio trailed well over one second behind Canada's John Kucera who went earlier in bright sunshine. 'I was kind of mad because the downhill was not fair at all,' said Svindal, who proved his point two days later when he and Miller returned to the hill and were easily fastest in the opening run of the super-combined event. 'We did the super-combined downhill in equal conditions and we were 1-2, like a second ahead of the guy who was third,' Svindal said. 'But that's all history. And I'm not complaining because I feel like I've had a good couple of years so far.' Indeed, Svindal took gold in that super-combi and carried over his form to win his second overall World Cup title. However, being crowned the world's best skier didn't get him access to the Olympic course when he visited Whistler last spring. The reconnaissance trip was important because he missed the World Cup races there the previous year after a horrific training crash three months earlier in Beaver Creek, Colorado, wiped out his season when defending his first overall title. 'I was supposed to train with the Canadian guys,' Svindal recalled. 'But then some, like, big dude from VANOC, the organizing committee, told the coaches that they do a lot of funding for the training and that I wasn't allowed to be on the slope. 'I thought it was ridiculous but, whatever.' In 1994, the young Aksel from Skedsmo, Norway, had easier access to the Olympic piste at nearby Lillehammer to watch Tommy Moe of the United States win downhill gold, 0.04 seconds ahead of home hero Kjetil Andre Aamodt. 'I was there, 11 years old and it was cool and everything but I hadn't really got my head around what it was,' Svindal said. He went to Turin 12 years later as a teammate of Aamodt, who at 34 won the super-G for the last of his record four Olympic golds in men's Alpine races. Even then, Svindal -- who was 21st in the downhill -- did not fully appreciate the moment because he was caught up in a breakout World Cup season. 'I felt like every race was important,' he said. 'This year I'm more aware what the Olympics really is, that it's something huge.' His focus on Whistler could sharpen with the World Cup likely out of reach. Offseason shoulder surgery was followed by a left knee injury in October and a lengthy bout of flu over the holidays. 'It's been a little different season than I hoped for,' he said. With hindsight, he would have skipped the season-opening giant slalom at Soelden, Austria, because his knee was worse than feared. After that, Svindal recuperated in Miami far away from snow and anything resembling winter. 'I needed to get out there,' he said. Then a sore throat on his flight back to Europe developed into strength-sapping flu after a troubled journey from Oslo to Italy for the downhill at Bormio. 'It took 17 hours to get there,' Svindal said. 'So I was like, 'I'm going to ski this thing.' That was a mistake.' After a so-so weekend in Wengen, Switzerland, Svindal now seeks his speed and rhythm on the intimidating Streif slope at Kitzbuehel, Austria. He believes he has time to peak when the Olympic fun begins. 'I'm looking forward to the whole experience,' he said. 'Just driving into Whistler and North Vancouver and feeling the Olympics spirit, seeing the rings, yeah, the whole deal. 'It's pretty unique.' 