Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo: Last season exceeded my expectations

Norway's next big skier Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo talked to www.xc-ski.de about the passed months, his teammate Petter Northug and his ambitions and goals as a allround athlete.

Johannes, congratulations on your last season. When you look back, do you ask yourself how is it possible that you were so successful?

To be honest, my results during the last season were much better than I had dreamt. Before the season my goals had been to make it to a sprint World Cup final and to have a chance to compete at the World Championships in Lahti. To be more often on the podium not only in the sprint but also in a distance race and in a mini tour, that definitely exceeded my expectations.

The season 2015/16 was your last as junior. You won three gold medal at the Junior World Championships in Romania. When did you realise you had such a big potential?

My last season as a junior was unreal. It gave me confidence in my training and also gave me a spot in the Norwegian recruitment team. I took 17th place in the sprint in Drammen and I saw I could reach the highest level. in the following autumn I was training with the national sprint team. I saw I was able to keep the pace with the boys and at that point I knew it is possible to be competitive with the best sprinters.

Only a few Cross-Country Skiing experts knew your name before the last season. Tell us little bit more about yourself.

I am a twenty-year old guy from Trondheim. I live together with my younger brother, sister and my parents. When I was 2 years old I got my first pair of skis from my granddad. Later on, I was told I was skiing in our living room the whole Christmas Eve. My mum and dad love Cross-Country Skiing and when we were kids we used to ski a lot together. My granddad has been my coach since years. When I was a kid we spent countless hours on skiing,  jumping and playing on skis. What I loved most, however, was football. I almost lived on the football field and I was sure I will become a football player.

Read the rest of the interview HERE.