Johannes Klaebo led Norway to victory in the men’s cross-country team sprint on Thursday (AEDT) to win a record-equalling fifth gold of the Milano Cortina Games and 10th career Olympic title, while Sweden’s women extended their domination of the sport with another gold.
The US men’s team won silver, their second of these Games, which ended a 50-year medal drought, while Italy took bronze.
On the women’s side, Switzerland took silver and Germany bronze.
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Klaebo’s victory, which he clinched alongside teammate Einar Hedegart, ties him with US speedskater Eric Heiden’s record five golds at a single Winter Olympics.
He had already surpassed the record for most golds in Winter Olympic history with his win in the men’s relay.
He now has the most Olympic titles ever behind US swimming legend Michael Phelps.
“It’s crazy. It’s hard to find words for it. It feels unreal actually,” Klaebo said.
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France were podium contenders ahead of the race but suffered a series of setbacks after three-time silver medallist Mathis Desloges broke his ski poles twice, leaving the team in 12th place.
Norway held a commanding lead for most of the contest, leaving Gus Schumacher from the US and Italian Federico Pellegrino to battle it out for silver.
Schumacher put on a strong chase against Klaebo up a final hill, but ultimately finished 1.37 seconds behind.
“You make a plan for the tactics. The one tactical plan we made today was a bad one, so we had to improvise from there,” he said after the race while standing with teammate Ben Ogden, who won a silver in the classic sprint earlier in the Games.
“That wasn’t tactics, that was just legs baby!” Schumacher said in jest about his charge uphill.
Italy’s bronze is the second for Pellegrino, who was also third in the men’s relay in his final Olympics.
