CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo insists the 10-kilometer race is the gap he struggles with most as a result of it forces him to race the clock as an alternative of one other competitor.

Humorous, it did not appear like it on the Milan Cortina Olympics on Friday.

The 29-year-old Norwegian star made his trademark late surge to win the interval-start race. His time of 20 minutes, 36.2 seconds gave him his eighth profession gold medal, tying fellow countrymen Marit Bjoergen, Bjoern Daehlie and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen for probably the most ever on the Winter Olympics.

The all-time mark might quickly be Klaebo’s alone. He is scheduled to compete three extra instances at Tesero Cross-Nation Snowboarding Stadium.

On a heat day that left some skiers racing solely of their bibs, Klaebo paced himself over the primary half of the race earlier than pouring it on late. The consequence was his third gold since arriving in Italy, and a small nod to the toll it is taking. Klaebo fell into the snow shortly after crossing the end line.

“It’s a big day,” Klaebo mentioned. “This one means rather a lot for certain … I’m misplaced for phrases.”

Norwegian biathlete Strula Holm Laegreid added a second bronze medal in 4 days when he made the rostrum within the dash.

This time, Laegreid opted to not share particulars of his private life with the world. That wasn’t the case when he earned bronze within the 20-kilometer particular person race on Tuesday. His beautiful private confession overshadowed the victory in that occasion by fellow countryman Johan-Olav Botn. Laegreid later apologized.

Whereas the fallout of his disclosure grew to become among the many most talked-about tales throughout the first week of the Video games, Laegreid tried to place his head down and easily get again to work.

“I attempted to do biathlon and I simply concentrate on the proper factor on the proper time,” mentioned Laegreid, who completed 15.9 seconds behind gold medalist Fillon Maillet of France. “Deal with the snowboarding and the course. Deal with the capturing within the vary and it paid off.”

Snowboarder Josie Baff gave Australia its second gold medal of the Video games when she stormed to victory within the girls’s snowboardcross.

The 23-year-old Baff, who completed a distant 18th in Beijing 4 years in the past, beat Eva Adamczykova of the Czech Republic and Italy’s Michela Moioli to the end line. Baff, the 2020 World Junior Champion, is presently the second-ranked racer on the planet.

Cooper Woods earned Australia’s first gold in Italy by triumphing in males’s moguls earlier this week.

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