King Klaebo conquers crowd nerves and Trondheim course to begin homecoming in style

In scenes rarely witnessed in cross-country skiing, more than 25,000 fans packed the stands in Trondheim on Thursday for day one of the FIS Nordic Skiing World Championships, which returned to the city for the first time since 1997 and to Norway – the birthplace of the sport – for the first time since 2011.

And the majority of them were here for one thing: to see Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) win gold in the men’s Sprint Freestyle. And he did just that, claiming a fourth straight sprint title and 10^th gold medal at the world championships.

“There was a lot of nerves today, that’s for sure,” the 28-year-old admitted about competing in front of such an expectant crowd in the city where he lives – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even for one the greats of cross-country skiing.

With compatriot Erik Valnes (NOR) – who has six sprint podiums to his name this World Cup season, including a recent victory in Cogne, Italy – ruled out of the championships with a back injury, there was a feeling that Klaebo was competing mainly against himself and the tricky Trondheim track, albeit one he knows well.

The double Olympic champion was fastest by more than a second in morning qualifying but with increasingly mild temperatures in Norway’s third biggest city, the course became slower, softer and more difficult as the day progressed with several skiers falling on the sharp corners, where the snow was at its deepest and most cut up.

Klaebo was cautious in his quarter-final, seemingly sizing up the conditions before edging ahead before the final corner, where being in front appeared to pose the fewest problems.

In a semi-final line-up worthy of the final, Klaebo again proved he had the tactical nous as well as the speed to beat the best of the rest. He hit the front at the halfway stage and never looked back, cruising through ahead of Federico Pellegrino (ITA), the last man to win a world sprint title before Klaebo – way back in 2017.

Many people’s favorite to be Klaebo’s closest challenger, giant Swede Edvin Anger (SWE) struggled on a course that rewarded agility over power. Having only made it past the quarter-finals as one of two lucky losers, he never recovered from being out of position early in the semi-final and finished sixth, more than two seconds behind Klaebo.

In the final, Klaebo and Pellegrino again hit the front, closely followed by fellow sprint heavyweight Lucas Chanavat (FRA). But the Norwegian made expert use of the Italian’s slipstream going into the sharp left-hander coming out of the first downhill to move into the lead.

And there he stayed, affording himself a customary look over his shoulder before a final corner than had already claimed several victims. He could afford to take it steadily, slowing down as a he crossed the line with a punch of the air and a nod to the flag-waving masses, who had been somewhat disappointed with fellow Norwegian Kristine Stavaas Skistad’s silver medal in the women’s race just minutes earlier.

“I’m out of words,” Klaebo said, barely able to be heard above the cheering masses. “I mean, it was so incredible. Look at the spectators there – it’s way different from what we are used to. This is how we do it in Trondheim, and it’s amazing.

“I’m just glad we are done with it now to be honest. I’m really satisfied.”

The popular Pellegrino, 34, rolled back the years to take silver 0.67s behind Klaebo.

There was joy, too, for Lauri Vuorinen (FIN), who claimed just his third individual podium – in the biggest race of his career –  ahead of Jules Chappaz (FRA) to make it five different nations among the medals on day one of the championships.

“Come back on Saturday,” Klaebo told the crowd. “It’s gonna be fun.”

The FIS Nordic Ski World Championships continue on Saturday 1 March with the Men’s and Women’s 20km Skiathlon races.

For the full results from Trondheim, click here.