Svindal is a two-time winner of the Alpine Skiing World Cup (2007 and 2009). In his career, he won five World Championship medals, four World Cup discipline titles (in downhill, combined, super-G and giant slalom), along with numerous World Cup races. He also won four medals at the 2002 World Junior Championships, including gold in combined.

In November 2007, he took a hard crash into the safety net at the Birds of Prey downhill race in Beaver Creek, CO, and suffered some broken bones in his face and a 15cm laceration to his groin and abdominal area. He returned to World Cup racing one year later and his first two victories were coincidentally at Beaver Creek, the same place where he injured himself.