Norway’s cross-country skiing superstar Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo etched his name into Olympic history on Friday by winning his sixth gold medal at a single Winter Games, setting a new record for the most golds in a single edition.
Klaebo claimed victory in the grueling 50km mass start classic, leading a Norwegian podium sweep with teammates Martin Loewstroem Nyenget and Emil Iversen taking silver and bronze, respectively. He completed the race in 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 44.8 seconds, finishing 8.9 seconds ahead of Nyenget, who earned his third medal of the Games.
“It’s been crazy, it’s a dream come true,” Klaebo said after the race. “Being able to crown the Olympics with the 50km was unbelievable.”
Klaebo surpassed the previous record of five gold medals at a single Winter Olympics, held by American speed skater Eric Heiden since the 1980 Lake Placid Games. He also extended his personal tally of Winter Olympic golds to 11, and became the first athlete to win all six cross-country events in one Games. Only US swimmer Michael Phelps, with 23 gold medals, has more Olympic titles.
Born in Oslo, Klaebo moved to Trondheim as a child, a city renowned for its cross-country skiing trails. His record includes 116 World Cup wins and 15 world championship titles, including a historic sweep of all six titles at last year’s World Championships on home snow in Trondheim.
“After the world championships last year, we knew it was possible, but to be able to do it [at the Olympics]—it’s hard to find the right words,” Klaebo told reporters. “So many emotions when I’m crossing the finish line.”
Earlier in the Games, Klaebo had already captured gold in the skiathlon, sprint classic, 10km interval start free, 4×7.5km relay, and team sprint.
British Team Shows Promising Results
Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave finished sixth in the 50km race, almost four minutes behind Klaebo, with teammate Joe Davies placing 16th. Musgrave, 35, is competing in his fifth Olympics but joked about possibly returning for a sixth.
“I’m still young and promising,” he said. “It was a decent Games. I came in good shape, but not quite good enough to fight the Norwegians—they’re just so dominant at the moment.”
The Games marked a record-setting performance for the British cross-country team. Musgrave and James Clugnet earned a fifth-place finish in the team sprint, the nation’s best-ever result in the sport, while Anna Pryce achieved a best-ever British women’s Olympic finish with 32nd in the sprint classic.
“We’ve had the best ever women’s Olympic result, best ever men’s Olympic result, best ever team result,” Musgrave said. “We’ve had limited resources but we can still show that we can do good results.”
Klaebo’s historic sweep concludes a remarkable chapter of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, cementing his status as arguably the greatest cross-country skier of all time.
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