Cross-country skiing: Einar Hedegart, the shadow that grows over Klæbo
While Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo is aiming for a near-perfect harvest at the Olympic Games in Milan/Cortina, an ex-biathlete could deny him gold in the individual skate race scheduled for Friday 13 February: Einar Hedegart, 24, is impressing with his lightning progress over this distance.
A former biathlete who converted to cross-country skiing, the Norwegian had already made his mark last season with a second place in Oslo (Finland), ahead of Harald Oestberg Amundsen but ahead of Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo himself, proof of his potential in the 10km skate.
The 2025-2026 season confirmed that this was no flash in the pan. Back in November, he won the 10km race in Beitostølen (Norway), beating skiers from the Norwegian national team and the French (including Mathis Desloges, Olympic skiathlon runner-up, 7th).
On 7 December, on home soil in Trondheim (Norway), Einar Hedegart claimed his first World Cup victory, winning the 10km freestyle ahead of his compatriots in a race dominated by the Norwegians from start to finish. The seven-time Olympic champion was relegated to the rank of classic competitor, finishing more than seven seconds behind the day’s prodigy.
A week later, in Davos (Switzerland), he repeated the feat by winning another 10km skate, this time ahead of Harald Oestberg Amundsen and Mattis Stenshagen, once again denying Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo (4th) a long-awaited victory in this discipline.
These results – two World Cup victories and several podium finishes in four major races – have catapulted Einar Hedegart into the limelight and made him a serious contender for victory in the format at the Games.
The young man, for his part, refuses to see it as a personal duel. “I’m convinced that the Olympic Games form a small bubble, because they are international in scope. They are probably even more important in many other countries, even though we Norwegians win a lot of medals,” he tells NTB. He adds: “If we were talking about cycling, which is more internationally recognised, Johannes would also be the best in the world, or at least one of the best. (…) He deserves more attention.
Ambitious, he is clear about his standards: “Silver wouldn’t be a failure, but it would be a medal with a bitter taste.”
Unlike the polished, understated image often associated with Norwegian cross-country skiers, Einar Hedegart stands out for the way he communicates. Highly active on social media, he regularly opens a window into his daily life for his followers. After his first World Cup victory, he even streamed the closing stages of the race live on Instagram from the leader’s chair, drawing nearly six thousand viewers. The spontaneous broadcast earned him a formal reprimand for breaching television rights regulations.
He has no intention of turning his back on biathlon, a discipline in which he has also delivered strong performances. Looking further ahead, he told NRK: “Deep down, I would really like to compete at the World Championships in Oslo, even if that’s still a long way off,” referring to the 2029 edition. In the short term, however, cross-country skiing is likely to remain his priority: “Next year, I will probably compete in cross-country events. However, I’m not ruling out other options. There will have to be some choices made.”
