TESERO, Italy (AP) — Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo completed his historic gold medal sweep of the men’s cross-country skiing events on Saturday by winning his sixth race and setting the record for the most golds by one athlete in a single Winter Olympics.
Klaebo’s victory in the 50-kilometer mass start race shattered the nearly 50-year record set by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
All of Heiden’s wins were in individual races and two of Klaebo’s have come in team events, so Heiden’s record for individual wins still stands.
“It feels amazing,” Klaebo said. “To crown everything here with a 50K, it’s unbelievable. In Norway, we say that if you’re gonna become a man, you need to win the 50K and today we did, so it’s a perfect way to end two perfect weeks.”
The solid gold performance matched the feat he accomplished at last year’s world championships in Trondheim, Norway, when he won all six events.
Klaebo’s teammates, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, took silver, and Emil Iversen, won bronze in a Norwegian sweep.
The three Norwegians had a lead before the halfway mark and continued to build the gap on their chasers.
Nyenget drove a fast pace, trying the entire race to shake his compatriot, knowing that if he didn’t he’d fall victim to Klaebo’s trademark uphill sprint.
Klaebo said he was just trying to hang on and conserve energy for the finish.
Toward the end, Nyenget and Klaebo pushed uphill and dropped Iversen. Klaebo stayed in second waiting to launch his winning move.
As the two reached the final hill, Klaebo ran away from Nyenget.