Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won a 10th gold medal in cross country skiing at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Wednesday, setting another Winter Games record.
Klaebo, 29, racing with Einar Hedegart, won the men’s team sprint for his fifth gold at the 2026 Games, clocking 18 minutes, 28.9 seconds.
Klaebo’s victory made him only the second Olympian — along with swimming great Michael Phelps — with at least 10 gold medals. Phelps won 23 golds over four Olympics from 2004 to 2016, including eight wins at the 2008 Beijing Games.
“It’s obviously very satisfying to make this happen,” Klaebo said. “The team sprint is one of the most fun events, but also one of the hardest.”
Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher of the United States were 1.4 seconds behind for the silver, while Italy’s Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino took bronze, 3.3 seconds back.
Klaebo has won every race he has entered at these Games, breaking the Winter Olympics record in Sunday’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay. He will look to go 6-for-6 at these Games in Saturday’s 50-kilometer mass start. With a win, Klaebo would join three swimmers — Phelps (twice), Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto — and gymnast Vitaly Scherbo with at least six golds at one Olympics.
“There are so many strong teams and so many fast skiers, so it always comes down to tight battles,” Klaebo said. “That makes it even more rewarding.”
The U.S. racers fought hard for an upset, with Schumacher slipping back on the final hill, where Klaebo sealed victory.
“Man, we kept the belief, and I knew that Gus was not going to let up until the last second,” Ogden said. “And therefore I couldn’t let up to the last seconds. So it was pretty incredible.”
Mathis Desloges snapped a pole in a setback for the strong French team that finished 12th.
In the women’s team sprint, Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist continued Sweden’s winning run.
Switzerland’s Nadja Kaelin and Nadine Faehndrich took silver with Laura Gimmler and Coletta Rydzek of Germany taking the bronze. Norway was edged out to fourth place.
“It is just amazing, so happy and so relieved too,” Dahlqvist said. “We have like five, six girls who could do the team sprint today. So we have a really strong team, and I’m happy to bring a gold for the whole team.”
Jessie Diggins of the United States pushed the pace early in the race but finished fifth with partner Julia Kern.
A dog ran onto the track while the women’s heats were in progress, running alongside athletes as they crossed the finish line. The incident did not disrupt the competition, and the dog was cheered on by spectators. It later wandered to the finish area, approaching skiers as they completed their runs.
DOG ON THE COURSE AT OLYMPIC SKIING. 🚨
The late entry closes strong at the cross country finish line! pic.twitter.com/o4mO28tXXW
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 18, 2026
“I became famous with a dog that came across the finish line, and everyone wants to interview me now,” Greece’s Konstantina Charalampidou said. “He was chasing the camera that goes up and down the finish line. He was cute but not aggressive. I wanted to pet him, but I didn’t have the time and I couldn’t find him afterwards.”
Venue officials said the dog had been taken for a walk by its owner, who lives locally before it escaped into the race course. They had initially thought the incident resulted from a violation of the venue’s strict no‑pets policy for spectators.
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.