Winter Olympics 2026 – The grandfather effect: How Johannes Høsflot Klæbo rose to the top of cross-country skiing
Klæbo entered six events and came away with six gold medals, in turn becoming the sport’s most decorated male athlete ever. In front of his family and an adoring home crowd, the image of him wearing a crown and his medals speaks louder than words.
“It was really special,” he recalled of Trondheim 2025. “It’s a place where I’ve been putting in a lot of hours training, either interval sessions or easy sessions. At that time, I really knew that, ‘OK, this is going to be my Championships, when I really want to be at my prime’. For the last nine years I’ve been thinking about those races.”
Klæbo saved the best until last in the 50km mass start, one of the most gruelling and demanding events in the sport. The most special moment? Hugging his grandfather at the finish line, having previously kept his distance to avoid illness mid-competition.
“The hug we got to give each other after the 50k, it was amazing,” he said. “The 50k is probably the race that I have been thinking the most about. When you win that and you also won the first five [races], the last one is the most important, and you do the impossible.”
That race will also hold significance for Klæbo at Milano Cortina 2026: it is the only event he will compete in that he has not won a medal. At Beijing 2022, he did not finish in a race that was reduced from 50km to 30km due to weather conditions.
Four years later, the Norwegian star is aiming to add to his five golds, one silver and one bronze. If he can win four gold medals, he would become the most decorated Olympic male cross-country skier in the history of the Games – with the guidance of his grandfather.
“The goal is, of course, fighting for the gold medals. That’s what I’m chasing,” Klæbo concluded. “It’s going to be cool to have an Olympics in Europe, or at least closer to where we race normally – and also a shorter trip for him to travel. He will for sure be there, and it’s going to be nice to have him on the sideline.”
