Johannes Klaebo wins record-equalling gold as GB’s Andrew Musgrave shines in cross-country skiing

Norway's Johannes Klaebo won the men's 10km freestyle cross-country ski race on Friday to earn his eighth Olympic title and equal the record for the most gold medals at the Winter Games.

Mathis Desloges of France won silver, his second of this Olympics, while Klaebo’s Norwegian compatriot Einar Hedegart won the bronze.

Team GB’s Andrew Musgrave broke his own record as he registered the best result for his nation in the event, though his efforts were only enough for sixth.

The victory was Klaebo’s third of the Milan-Cortina Games and tied the Norwegian skier with three of his countrymen - fellow cross-country skiers Marit Bjoergen and Bjorn Daehlie and biathlete Ole Einar Bjorndalen - on eight gold medals.

"Today is one of the toughest races we've done, and everyone was completely exhausted when we crossed the finish line. For me, today was really hard. I tried to open with control and at the end there it was really hard," said Klaebo, who won his first three Olympic golds at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and two more at the 2022 Beijing Games.

"I'm really satisfied with being first. This is my first time winning a 10k in interval style skating."

Hedegart, a biathlete who shifted his focus to cross-country skiing and was considered one of Klaebo's biggest challengers, came close to taking victory, but lost steam on a climb in the final kilometre of the race.

He ended up in third, 14 seconds behind the winner, with Desloges 4.9s adrift in the interval-style race.

"I've never experienced this kind of dizziness. I was so dizzy the last two kilometres and I had nothing left in the tank, so it was just pain and suffering," Hedegart said.

"In the last 200m I didn't know if I was going to make it to the finish line, and even though it was only downhill I was so scared that I would pass out."

Skiers faced another day of warm weather, with temperatures hitting over 6 degrees Celsius, prompting some to forgo their tops and only wear a race bib.

Course officials decided against salting the track to make the snow more compact.