TESERO, Italy — On Saturday, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo concluded his remarkable clean sweep of gold medals in the men’s cross-country skiing disciplines, triumphing in his sixth competition and thereby establishing a new benchmark for the highest number of golds claimed by one athlete at a single Winter Olympics.
Klaebo’s triumph in the 50-kilometer mass start event eclipsed the almost five-decade-old benchmark established by American speed skater Eric Heiden, who had secured five gold medals at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Games.
Heiden’s victories were exclusively in solo competitions, whereas two of Klaebo’s achievements occurred in team events; consequently, Heiden’s standard for individual triumphs remains unbroken.
Klaebo additionally augmented his personal best for the highest number of Winter Olympic career gold medals to a total of 11 across three Olympic appearances. The former benchmark was eight, a mark Klaebo surpassed on February 15.