Klaebo wins record sixth gold at Milano Cortina Olympics

Klaebo Wins Historic Sixth Gold at Single Winter Olympics With 50km Sweep

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo completed a perfect run through the men’s cross-country skiing program at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Saturday, winning the 50km mass start classic to become the first athlete ever to claim six gold medals at a single Winter Games.

The 29-year-old Norwegian, known to fans as “King Klaebo,” finished 8.9 seconds ahead of teammate Martin Loewstroem Nyenget and 30.7 seconds clear of Emil Iversen to lead a Norwegian podium sweep at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium. Fourth-place finisher Theo Schely of France ended the race nearly three minutes behind Klaebo, while several competitors dropped out entirely.fis-ski

A Record 46 Years in the Making

Klaebo’s sixth gold at these Games shattered the 46-year-old record held by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who won five golds across all five individual distances at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. All of Heiden’s victories came in individual events, while two of Klaebo’s six — the 4×7.5km relay and the team sprint — were team competitions, leaving Heiden’s record for individual wins intact.usnews

With 11 career Olympic golds across three Games — three from PyeongChang 2018, two from Beijing 2022, and six from Milan Cortina — Klaebo now trails only Michael Phelps and his 23 golds on the all-time list. He entered these Games with five career golds and broke the previous Winter Olympic career record of eight, held by three Norwegian compatriots, on February 15 when he won his ninth in the relay.mundodeportivo

Domination From Start to Finish

The trio of Norwegian skiers broke away from the rest of the field early. Nyenget pushed the pace and appeared poised to challenge for gold, but Klaebo surged ahead on the final climb — the same hill where he had distanced rivals throughout these Games. Illness had thinned the field before the start, with Italy’s Federico Pellegrino, the United States’ Ben Ogden, and Finland’s Ristomatti Hakola unable to race.reuters

Klaebo went six-for-six in men’s cross-country skiing events at Milan Cortina: the skiathlon, sprint classic, 10km interval start, relay, team sprint, and 50km mass start classic. He pulled off the same feat at the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, where he became the first athlete to win all six golds at a single worlds.usatoday

Saturday’s victory also extended Norway’s record gold medal haul at a single Winter Olympics. The team had already broken its own mark of 16, set at the 2022 Beijing Games, and Klaebo’s win added to the nation’s growing tally. His teammate Einar Hedegart, who finished second to Klaebo in the 10km earlier in the Games, offered a simple assessment of the man he races alongside daily: “He is just incredible and in an enormous shape. He deserves all credit that he gets”.nytimes