Klaebo sets Winter Olympics gold standard and leads Norway to new heights

Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo set the new gold standard Saturday for the most wins by one athlete in a single Winter Olympics by sweeping all six men's cross-country skiing events at the Milan Cortina Games.

His half-dozen golds helped catapult Norway to new heights in first-place finishes and total Winter Games medals.

Klaebo has plenty of company atop the podium. The nation has won big on cross-country skis — in classic and freestyle races and Nordic combined in Tesero, and biathlon in Anterselva.

It also has notable wins in ski jumping, freestyle skiing, Alpine skiing and speedskating.

The latest records build on Norway’s dominance in the Winter Games: It has more winter medals than any other country and has led the medal count in the past three Olympics.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the key numbers that explain why Norway has been so dominant.

One-third

Six of Norway's 18 gold medals through Saturday afternoon were won by Klaebo, though two were for relays involving teammates.

Perfect pair

Ski jumper Anna Odine Stroem won both the normal and large hills competitions, becoming the first woman to do so because it was the first year women jumped on the bigger hill. Stroem also won a silver in the mixed team event.

Two pair

Norway won a pair of golds in men’s freestyle skiing. Birk Ruud won freeski slopestyle and Tormod Frostad won men’s freeski big air.

In alpine skiing, Thea Louise Stjernesund won silver in women’s giant slalom and Henrik Kristoffersen got the bronze in the men’s slalom.

Triple crown

Jens Luraas Oftebro stood atop the podium in all three competitions in Nordic combined, the sport that begins with a ski jump and ends with a cross-country ski race. Oftebro won individually on the normal and large hills and again in the team relay.

Four of a kind

Men's speedskater Sander Eitrem won gold in the men’s 5000 meter race.

On the women's side, Ragne Wiklund hauled in three medals: silvers in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters and bronze in the 5000 meters.

Super six

Klaebo’s victory in the 50-kilometer mass start race Saturday shattered the nearly 50-year record set by American speedskater Eric Heiden, who won five golds in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

All of Heiden’s wins were in individual races and two of Klaebo’s have come in team events, so Heiden’s record for individual wins still stands.

11

The biathlon team won 11 medals, led by Maren Kirkeeide, who won individual gold in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint and silver in the 10-kilometer pursuit and was part of the bronze medal-winning four by 6-kilometer relay. On the men's side, Johan‑Olav Botn won gold in the individual 20-kilometer and Johannes Dale‑Skjevdal won in the 15-kilometer mass start.

Sturla Holm Laegreid, won four individual medals, two silver and two bronze.

Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen won an individual silver and shared a silver in the four by 7.5-kilometer race with Laegreid and Botn.

13

Cross-country skiers captured the most medals, with Klaebo laying claim to nearly half of them — with a little help from his friends in the team relay and sprint titles.

Teammates who won the four by 7.5-kilometer relay with Klaebo all enjoyed some hardware of their own.

Martin Loewstrøm Nyenget won silver in the 50-kilometer mass start and bronze in the 20-kilometer skiathlon. Einar Hedegart also shared gold in the team sprint with Klaebo and won a bronze in the 10-kilometer interval start. Emil Iversen won bronze in the 50-kilometer race.

Norwegian women beat dominant Sweden in the team four by 7.5-kilometer race and Heidi Weng, who was in that foursome, added an individual bronze in the 20-kilometer skiathlon

40

Norway has won a total of 40 medals: 18 golds, 11 silvers and 11 bronze.

The gold medals beat its previous record of 16 won at the 2022 Beijing Olympics for the most won by a nation in a single Winter Olympics.

The total medal count with Norway's cross-country sweep on Saturday also set a Winter Olympics record, though the 116 medal events this year is more than in the past.

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