TESERO, Italy (AP) — Friday the 13th will be remembered as a lucky day for Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo Norway’s cross-country skiing star won an eighth gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics Friday, tying an all‑time Winter Games record. The 29‑year‑old claimed victory in the men’s 10 kilometer interval‑start race, for his third gold at the 2026 games.

Will three races still ahead of him, Klaebo now shares the record with three other Norwegian athletes who have all retired: Marit Bjoergen and Bjoern Daehlie in cross-country skiing and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen in the biathlon. Klaebo again gained vital ground in the final hill and clocked 20 minutes, 36.2 seconds, showing rare signs of fatigue as he collapsed at the finish line of the race considered to be his toughest challenge.

He was 4.9 seconds head of Frances’s Mathis Desloges and 14 in front of his main challenger Einar Hedegart of Norway who lost momentum on the last hill. —-

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics