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There is no Norwegian skiing powerhouse Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, also known as “King Klæbo.”
The 29-year-old won his fifth gold medal of the Milano-Cortina Olympics in the men’s team sprint on Wednesday morning, tying the record set by US speed skater Eric Heiden at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
It’s also his 10th Olympic gold overall, making him one of the most Olympic gold medalists of all time, with only US swimmer Michael Phelps surpassing him with 23. And the Milano-Cortina Games are only Klæbo’s third Olympics.
Klæbo’s golds alone make up a third of Norway’s gold medals at the Winter Games, keeping the country at the top of the medals table.
And despite all that, Klæbo remains number one in the World Cup standings and has beaten his Olympic rivals by enough points to cross the finish line, waving to the crowd as he goes.
“I think he’s going to go down as the greatest. To race in the same era as him – it’s crazy to see that and fight that,” said Canadian skier Remi Drolet.
So what makes him so good? A combination of lethal strategy and sharp diligence has kept his eye on the prize for years.
Klæbo caught the world’s attention during the Games when a video of him running uphill in the men’s sprint final went viral – averaging 17 km/h up seven percent.
His style has been named by some as the “Klæbo run” – characterized by a high knee position with a slight glide. The move is a full-on, powerful climb at the end of an already taxing race, leaving his rivals in the dust.
WATCH | Klæbo’s medal-winning sprint up the hill:
But Klæbo wasn’t always a good cross-country skier. His former coach Rune Sandøy told The New York Times’ The Athletic that Klæbo spent part of his teenage years being a “regular Joe” among skiers while training in Trondheim, Norway.
But he quickly moved up the ranks and played in the races after a few years.
“I pushed myself to the limit, with my legs and arms: everything I had, without thinking, without expectations,” Klæbo wrote in the 2022 blog about his first time running in a national race at the age of 17.
“I finished this stage with the best second time of all, I surprised myself before others, from the 82nd place in the nation to the second, from the unknown to the name that others are forced to read, with interest, at the top of the scoreboard.
Klæbo also credits his success to his 83-year-old grandfather and coach, who was sitting in the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing stadium when he won gold on Sunday.
“He’s been my coach since I was 15, and we’ve really worked it out. To have him here and see this and what we’ve achieved over the years, it’s unbelievable,” he said after his win on Sunday in the 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay.
Klæbo will be competing in his final Olympic race in Milano-Cortina in the men’s 50km race on Saturday.
