Klaebo wins sixth Olympic gold on opening day of men’s Cross-Country

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) did not disappoint as he comfortably won his sixth Olympic gold by claiming the Men’s 10k + 10km Skiathlon title on the first day of the men’s Cross-Country events at Milano Cortina 2026.

As expected, Klaebo looked relaxed for the majority of the race before he broke away on the final hill, leaving his rivals in his wake to battle it out for the remaining podium places at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium on Sunday.

Despite a penalty for Mathis Desloges for turning early and cutting a corner through the cones to give him a brief lead at 13.3km, the Frenchman claimed the silver medal with the judges feeling this had not given him a significant enough advantage. He finished ahead of the other Norwegian to make the podium, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget.

On his attempt at going for a clean sweep of six gold medals at Milano Cortina 2026 to become the most decorated men’s Olympic Cross-Country skier of all time Klaebo said: “We’ll see. It’s a pretty good start. It was amazing out there. I had good skis, my body felt good and it’s always good to start a championship in good shape.”

Klaebo had finished the race in style, celebrating with the crowds as he approached the finish line with a substantial lead, finishing in 46 minutes and 11 seconds, two seconds ahead of Desloges.

However, the Olympic champion revealed he was not without nerves going into the race, with a place in the history books at stake.

“I’ve been very nervous, but on the other hand, this is my third time [at an Olympic Winter Games] so you get a little bit of experience and this is a track and course that we know a lot from previously, and we’ve been doing a lot of World Cups here,” Klaebo said.

An emotional Desloges said: “Two years ago today I became a world champion in under-23, now it’s different. I’m better than two years ago.”

Clearly delighted to make the podium behind Klaebo and break up the Norwegian team’s dominance, he added: “The French athletes are very strong. Of course, the Norwegian guys are also very strong, but I believe we can be better. Today, I’m very good and I’m happy.”

In what could have been a clean sweep for the Norwegians who made up much of the leading the pack in the Classic portion of the race, a collision took down Harald Oestberg Amundsen as he got tangled with Savelii Korostelev (AIN) early in the Freestyle. This ultimately scuppered Amunsen’s chances with him finishing in sixth.

 Sweden’s Edvin Anger (SWE) also struggled to come back from a fall, which was on the same corner that Jessie Diggins (USA) and Karoline Simpson-Larsen (NOR) went down in the women’s event on Saturday. He got to his feet with a broken pole, which then took a while to replace.

Conditions had made it difficult for the men as it had done for the women the day before, with slushy snow and tricky corners.

Mattis Stenshagen, who had also started in the leading pack of Norwegians, fell back after the transition to Freestyle, finishing in 21st, behind home hope Federico Pellegrino (ITA) in 20th.

 For results of the Men’s 10k + 10km Skiathlon click here. For the full Cross-Country schedule for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games click here.