Take a bow: record-breaking Klaebo proves he’s a man for all distances

The cross-country skiing world has run out of superlatives for Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, so his achievements this season are best summed up in stats: a record-equalling 20 World Cup wins – 10 sprints, 10 distance. It was fitting, then, that the Norwegian crossed the line first in the final race in Lahti, Finland, on Sunday.

The greatest men’s sprinter the sport has even seen, Klaebo is also a brilliant distance racer – this was his fourth 20km victory this season – so it should have come as no surprise that he blew away the field here. And yet it did – a little.

Even by his standards, this was sensational, coming at the end of a gruelling season that also included the world championships, and at the end of a weekend in which he also claimed victories in team and individual sprint.

The only accolade that was out of reach was the overall distance title, which was all but sewn up by Paal Golberg (NOR), who clinched the Crystal Globe by going through the first checkpoint at 7.5km in first place to claim maximum bonus points.

The rest of the race was all about Klaebo. He took everybody by surprise by bursting clear at the end of the second lap, stretching the field and forcing the other racers to work hard to catch up.

Urged on by a noisy home crowd, Finland’s Iivo Niskanen then led for much of the second half of the race, but Klaebo was on his shoulder the whole way before turning on the afterburners on the final climb. He was gone in the blink of an eye, slowing down to celebrate but still managing to finish 5.4 seconds ahead of Golberg. William Poromaa (SWE) split a group of seven Norwegians to claim third.

“It’s the perfect way to finish off the season,” Klaebo said. “All the way I was hoping people would push a little bit harder so we could come faster to the finish line and start celebrating.

“It feels amazing to equal the record of 20 wins – nothing I have ever dreamed of before the season started with injury and everything – so I’m just so satisfied and really proud. For sure, it’s my best season ever.”

And at just 26 years old, there is surely much more to come.

Click here for the full results from the men’s 20km classic.