Johannes Hösflot Kläbo once again cannot be stopped and writes history with his next gold medal.
The weather god was also unable to stop Johannes Hösflot Kläbo on the way to the history books: In a thunderous wind, the cross-country ski superstar in Trondheim stormed with the Norwegian season to his fifth gold and now the most successful cross-country skier in the World Cup story with 14 titles. The German quartet did not go beyond eighth place two years after winning bronze.
The final runner Kläbo had a full lead of 21.6 seconds to Switzerland after 4×7.5 kilometers and the preparatory work by Erik Valnes, Martin Löwström Nyenget and Harald Östberg Amundsen, it was the 13th season gold in a row for the host. Bronze went to Sweden in front of about 40,000 fans in the stadium and on the route.
“I live my dream here, I enjoy every moment,” Kläbo said before the start. The 28-year-old passed his bereaf place in his hometown Petter Northug, who had taken gold 13 times.
Germany falls back after a strong start
Only the Russian cross -country skier Jelena Wälbe had previously achieved five gold at just one Nordic World Cup – in 1997, also in Trondheim. On Saturday, Kläbo can add over 50 km title number six.
The German team from Florian Notz, Albert Kuchler, Friedrich Moch and Janosch Brugger started strongly: the first change it was in third place, but Kuchler then fell back to eighth place. Moch and final runner Brugger couldn’t change anything in the position.