Who is Norway’s cross-country ski superstar ‘King Klæbo’? | CBC Sports

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There’s no stopping Norwegian cross-country snowboarding powerhouse Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, a.okay.a. “King Klæbo.” 

The 29-year-old gained his fifth gold medal on the Milano-Cortina Olympics within the males’s group dash Wednesday morning, tying U.S. long-track velocity skater Eric Heiden’s file on the Lake Placid Video games in 1980. 

It’s additionally his tenth total gold on the Olympics, making him one of many high Olympic gold-winning athletes ever, with solely U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps beating him with 23. And the Milano-Cortina Video games are solely Klæbo’s third Olympics. 

Klæbo’s golds alone make up a 3rd of Norway’s gold medals at these Winter Video games, protecting the nation on high within the medal standings. 

And on high of all that, Klæbo stays primary within the World Cup standings and has overwhelmed rivals on the Olympics with extensive sufficient margins to casually cross the end line, waving on the crowd as he goes.

“I feel he’ll go down as the best of all time. To be racing the identical period as him — it is loopy to witness that and to battle in opposition to that,” stated Canadian skier Remi Drolet.

So what makes him that good? A mixture of killer approach and a pointy diligence that has stored his eye on the prize for years. 

Klæbo caught the world’s eye throughout these Video games when a video of him working uphill within the males’s basic dash ultimate went viral — he averaged round 17 km/h up the seven per cent gradient.

His model has been dubbed by some because the “Klæbo run” — characterised by increased positioning of the knees with much less gliding. The transfer is a full-on, highly effective dash uphill on the finish of an already taxing race, leaving his rivals within the mud. 

WATCH | Klæbo’s medal-winning uphill dash:

However Klæbo wasn’t at all times such an excellent cross-country skier. His former coach Rune Sandøy advised The New York Occasions’ The Athletic that Klæbo spent part of his teenage years as an “common Joe” amongst his fellow skiers whereas coaching in Trondheim, Norway. 

However he quickly rose by way of the ranks to dominate on the races just some years later.

“I pushed myself on the restrict, with my legs and arms: every little thing I had, with out doing any reasoning, with out having any expectations,” Klæbo wrote in a 2022 weblog publish about his first time racing in a nationwide dash at age 17.

“I ended the qualification with the second greatest time, stunning myself, earlier than the others. From 82nd within the nation to second, from unknown to a reputation that others had been pressured to learn, intrigued, on the high of the scoreboard.”

Klæbo additionally credit his success to his 83-year-old grandfather and coach, who was sitting within the stands on the Tesero Cross-Nation Snowboarding Stadium when he gained gold on Sunday.

“He has been my coach since I used to be 15, and we’ve actually, actually labored for it. For me to have him right here and to see this and what we’ve achieved through the years, it’s unbelievable,” he stated after his win in Sunday’s 4 x 7.5-kilometre relay. 

Klæbo might be competing in his ultimate race of the Milano-Cortina Olympics on the males’s 50-kilometre mass begin basic on Saturday.