Cross-country skiing: Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo continues his harvest
On Tuesday, Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo once again put in a demonstration performance in the classic sprint of the Milan/Cortina 2026 Olympic Games. Already Olympic champion in the skiathlon on Sunday, he doubled his tally on the Tesero track (Italy).
Winner of the qualifying heat, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo made it through the quarter-finals and then the semi-finals without any difficulty, without ever giving the impression that he was trying too hard. In the final race, he wanted to send a message.
On the terrible bump in the circuit, the 29-year-old cross-country skier turnedon the power and flew solo to his seventh Olympic title. At the top of the climb, the gap was already closed: victory was no longer in doubt. In the final straight, the king of the discipline took the time to get up, wave to the public and cross the finish line in slow motion, the symbol of a grandiose demonstration.
Behind him, his rivals arrived one by one, proof of the extreme difficulty of this circuit, and it was the American Ben Ogden who took second place at the end of a superb day. It was the first medal for an American in 50 years, and the first for Bill Koch, who won silver in the 30km in Innsbruck (Austria) in 1976. Young Norwegian Oskar Opstad Vike completed the podium, more than six seconds behind the winner.
Finland’s Lauri Vuorinen came fourth, ahead of the Czech Jiri Tuz and Norway’s Erik Valnes, who completely exploded in this final.
Disappointment for Les Bleus
For Les Bleus, the race did not go as hoped. After having negotiated the qualifiers perfectly, the French didn’t manage to get past the quarter-final stage. In a race that looked like a final before its time, Cluse’s Jules Chappaz narrowly missed out, taking third place just a few centimetres behindErik Valnes.
Théo Schely finished sixth in his quarter-final, Richard Jouve fifth and Lucas Chanavat fourth, not good enough to continue the adventure.
Full results
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