Norway's Klaebo wins opening race at Milan Cortina, grabbing sixth gold medal in skiathlon

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TESERO, Italy (AP) — Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo used a trademark burst of speed late in the race to pull away for a sixth Olympic gold by winning the men's skiathlon Sunday at the Milan Cortina Games.

His latest win puts the 29-year-old Norwegian just two gold medals away from equaling the Winter Olympic record, and he still has five more chances to add to his haul in Italy.

Klaebo was in the lead pack throughout and then shifted into another gear just before coming into the stadium for the final time, quickly leaving his four remaining rivals in his wake. He could cruise to the line after that to finish in a time of 46 minutes, 11 seconds, ahead of Mathis Desloges of France and Norwegian teammate Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, who were 2.0 seconds and 2.1 seconds behind.

Desloges escaped disqualification earlier in the race after skiing through the cones to cut a corner. Judges cleared him after reviewing the incident.

After leaving the rest of the pack behind, Klaebo eased up in the final meters and waved to the crowd and traveling Norway supporters before crossing the finish line at the Tesero cross-country stadium in northern Italy.

He carries the massive expectations of his cross-country mad home nation at these games after a clean sweep of all six events at last year's world championships.

“(There were) a lot of nerves before this race. And I really felt like I wanted to do well here," Klaebo said. "And my body feels good. We had good skis. And it was an amazing day.”

Klaebo won three golds at the 2018 Olympics and added two more four years ago in Beijing, but all five came in either sprint of relay events.

“It’s my first (gold) on distance race so it for sure means a lot,” he said. “I just wanted to try to stay in the pack and have some energy left for the last uphill.”

Three other Norwegians, Marit Bjoergen, Bjoern Daehlie (both cross-country skiing) and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen (biathlon) share the Winter Olympic record of eight golds.

Race challengers Edvin Anger of Sweden and Norway's Harald Oestberg Amundsen suffered falls on the icy course.

Klaebo entered as the clear favorite in the 20 kilometer skiathlon, which splits the race between classic and freestyle techniques, with athletes switching skis midway. This year marks the first Olympic Games where both men and women race an equal 20 kilometer distance, with men reducing the distance from 30 kilometers. Sweden's Friday Karlsson won the women's race on Saturday. Nyenget made the podium despite taking a knock from Savelli Korostelev of Russia who finished fourth, 3.6 seconds behind the leader, and later apologized. “I didn’t see him. I was a little surprised about it. I’m so sorry,” said Korostelev, who is competing as an independent due to a team ban on Russia.

On a good day for France, outsider Hugo Lapalus place fifth, 4.3 seconds behind the winner. Nyenget, who led the pack at the front for much of the race, said he felt great to to recover from the collision. “It’s tough to latch back onto a group of the world’s best skiers. On the plus side, I felt really strong today,” he said. “I’m a little relieved to get a medal. The course was rock hard and a little icy," Nyenget said, adding that there wasn't much to do about his star teammate.

“He’s pretty good at skiing,” he said.

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics