His competitors have called him both “inspirational and irritating” to ski against, but all were hugely impressed when Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo made history over the weekend. Klæbo won all six of the events in which he competed at the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, and no one has ever done that before.
Klæbo skied the championships’ final 50 kilometer-race on Saturday in one hour and 57.47 minutes, just ahead of William Poromaa of Sweden, who won silver, and fellow Norwegian Simen Hegstad Krüger who took the bronze. Norwegians Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget (who took a fall during the race) and Harald Østberg Amundsen placed fourth and fifth in the race respectively.
Klæbo’s final triumph on Saturday came after he’d already won gold medals in the freestyle sprint, the 20-kilometer skiathlon, the 10-km classic, the team sprint and the relay. He also holds 13 gold medals from the World Championships in 2019, 2021 and 2023, plus five Olympic gold medals from 2018 and 2022 and 13 World Cup titles.
“It will be difficult to top this,” he told reporters after the 50K race, his final event in the championships. “This is difficult to compare to anything.” Klæbo’s father Håkon was so nervous that he almost didn’t dare to watch the thrilling finish, when Klæbo came from behind, excelled on a downhill and passed Poromaa while heading for the finish line at the sold-out Granåsen arena.
Klæbo admitted to feeling exhausted, but said the cheering spectators kept him going, especially since he’s from the Trøndelag region around Trondheim and represents the local Byåsen sports club. He’d always wanted to win on home turf.
The 28-year-old Klæbo still lives in Trondheim and could finally get a hug from his partner, Pernille Døsvik. Klæbo had otherwise remained mostly isolated all winter to help ward off any infections or illness, and kept a distance of two meters from most everyone around him. The only exceptions made to his anti-hugging rule during the championships were with fellow athletes at the finish line and when Queen Sonja asked for a hug during one of his earlier visits to the royal viewing platform at the arena. King Harald joked after one of his subsequent victories, “are you up here again?”
Klæbo also distanced himself from his own family, as part of his extreme training regime. “It’s a completely crazy lifestyle,” his mother Elisabeth Høsflot Klæbo told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). “No one can understand what we put up with.” She said she’s pretty much been living alone in the family home in Trondheim since early fall, while her husband Håkon traveled with their son Johannes around Europe for various competitions and training periods.
“Days like today make it worth it, but it would have been nice to be together a bit more,” Håkon Klæbo told NRK. “I look forward to being able to celebrate Christmas with Johannes, because we haven’t done that for many years.”
Johannes’ grandfather Kåre has also been an important coach for Klæbo, and he was in Trondheim on Saturday to watch his grandson make skiing history. Døsvik was also there, and told NRK that she’d only spent 10 days with him since October. They celebrated Christmas together, she said, “but of course at a high-elevation training center” in Davos, Switzerland.
The gold medal winner made a point of thanking his family for all their support, and for putting up with his stict regime. He admitted his routines can make life “damn boring, but right now, it’s worth it.” His mother told NRK that she doesn’t think he can keep living as he does “forever and ever, it’s not good.” Klaebø could finally, though, hug her along with Døsvik and the rest of his family on Saturday afternoon.
“They have let me follow my dream,” Klæbo told NRK.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
