Heading to the final turn, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo took the lead one last time, passing Sweden’s William Poromaa. The Norwegian cross-country skiing great had turned the sport’s marathon race into a sprint. And there’s no beating Klæbo in that.
Klæbo raced to the finish, and just before he crossed the line, he peeked back at the other contenders who had faded over the final kilometers of Saturday’s men’s 50km mass start at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. He raised his hands to a portion of the approximately 100,000 home fans that packed the mountainside in Trondheim, celebrating a victory that completed an unprecedented medal sweep and further stamped his place in cross-country lore.
The 28-year-old Klæbo’s win in the 50km gave him gold medals in all six events at the world championships, the first time anyone has done that since the event expanded to six events — in 2001 for the men, 2003 for the women. Russia’s Yelena Välbe is the only other skier to pull off a golden sweep at the biennial world championships, winning all five women’s events in 1997.
“I feel like I’ve been working so hard to just be here and try to be in my best shape, and managing that and winning six out of six here, it’s just crazy,” Klæbo said after the race. “I…
