"I cannot tell any trick that anyone on skis or a snowboard does from any other trick that anyone else does; I have to take Johnny Weir's word for what is an axel vs. what is a salchow; and watching ski jumping is like looking at a painting. For one, he's up there, while his competitors are back there, but more relevant to our purposes, he can pound out the pace on skis in a way that nobody else can."
"Klæbo's sudden burst of speed (at around 2:35 in the above video) is perhaps the single most shocking display of athleticism so far at these Games, for the sheer difference between him and everyone else on the course. He's splitting a sub-six minute mile running pace, uphill, in the snow, on skis, deep into a grueling, nearly mile-long race. Most people's hamstrings are not working 15 percent as effectively as his are. In Norwegian, his technique is called the Klæbo-klyvet."
"By almost every metric, Klæbo is the greatest men's cross-country skier of all time. His 107 World Cup wins are the most in the sport's history, he is the youngest skier to win the World Cup, and at age 29, he already has 15 World Championship gold medals. He entered these here 2026 Games with five Olympic gold medals, three shy of the all-time record for a cross-country skier, and his skiathlon gold was his second in Cortina."
Johannes Klæbo displays overwhelming dominance in men's cross-country skiing through exceptional speed, technique, and records. Klæbo can accelerate and sustain a pace on skis that far surpasses his competitors, including a sudden burst that equates to a sub-six minute mile uphill in snow. He amassed 107 World Cup wins, became the youngest World Cup winner, and by age 29 had 15 World Championship gold medals. He entered the 2026 Games with five Olympic golds and added a skiathlon gold in Cortina. Klæbo aims to increase his Olympic gold tally to challenge the Winter Olympic record.
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