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Johannes Hosflot Klaebo crosses the finish line first in the Men's 50km Mass Start Classic at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Daniel Karmann/dpa
Norway's Johannes Høsflot Klæbo arrived in the pantheon of Olympic greats for good on Saturday when he claimed a record sixth gold medal at one Winter Games with victory in the men's 50 kilometres cross country ski race.
Klæbo attacked on the last uphill to claim the landmark gold ahead of Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget and Emil Iversen in what was the first Norwegian Olympic podium sweep in the event in 102 years.
Among the first to congratulate hom was former International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach as Klæbo moved one gold ahead of American Eric Heiden, who had swept all five speed skating events in 1980.
Klæbo cemented his greatness when he became the athlete with the most overall golds earlier at the Milan/Cortina Games and now has a record extending 11 golds. The next best athletes have eight golds.
His other golds at the Games were in the sprint, 10km, 20km skiathlon, team sprint and relay as he swept the six golds like at last year's world championships.
"It's hard to find the words. It's unbelievable. After the world champs last year, we knew that it was possible," Klæbo said.
"But to be able to do it, it's hard to find the right words and (there were) so many emotions when I'm crossing the finish line.
"It's a lot of sacrifices, but on the other hand, when you're starting to feel that it's sacrifices, I think it's time to find something else to do.
"Mentally, I've been in a better place than I was last year and I have a lot of fun racing out there now."
Klæbo started as a sprinter and decided Saturday's classic style race with this skill when he simply sprinted up the last uphill to leave Nyenget in his wake.
'He is a machine'
Nyenget had attacked right after the start and led for most of the race with high pace but his efforts only resulted in silver, which however completed a medal set after relay gold and skiathlon bronze.
“I’m starting to believe maybe he is a machine. I did everything I could to get rid of him for 49km but when he is still there in the last sprint, it is close to impossible to beat him at the finish," Nyenget said.
The three Norwegians broke a leader group of five, which also included neutral athlete Savelii Korostelev of Russia and Victor Lovera of France, who eventually finished fifth and eighth, respectively.
Former world champion Iversen was then also unable to follow and finished 30.7 seconds back, and Nyenget then also had to bow to Klæbo.
The 2018 gold medallist Iivo Niskanen and Norway's Harald Østberg Amundsen were the most prominent non-finishers, both quitting early after around 15km.
Niskanen said he caught a virus and "when your breathing is like you’re breathing in through a straw, it’s not quite enough for Olympic level.
"When I noticed I’m not going skiing for medals today, I figured it’s time to come to my senses so that I don’t kill myself out there."
Looking back at him standing together with Amundsen, who was also not fully fit, he added: "We were there, just having a cough-off together."
The Olympic cross country races conclude on Sunday with the first-ever women's 50km. Their longest race was formerly 30km but men and women now have the same distance in every event.
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