TESERO, Italy, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway sprinted to victory in the men's 10km+10km skiathlon of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday.
The 29-year-old broke away from a leading group of five in the closing stages to cross the finish line in 46 minutes 11 seconds, securing his sixth Olympic gold medal. The skiathlon features 10 kilometers of classic technique followed by 10 kilometers of freestyle skiing.
France's Mathis Desloges took the silver medal in 46:13, while Norway's Martin Loewstroem Nyenget settled for bronze, finishing just behind in 46:13.1.
Klaebo led the race after the classic segment, clocking 23:48.5, and was joined by Desloges, Nyenget, Russian skier Savelii Korostelev, and France's Hugo Lapalus in the leading pack during the freestyle portion.
The quintet remained tightly grouped for most of the freestyle section before Klaebo demonstrated his formidable finishing speed in the final 500 meters, surging clear to sprint home and leave his rivals trailing.
"The last couple of days have been nerve-racking. I've had a very high resting heart rate these days," Klaebo said afterward. "I've been very nervous, but on the other hand, this is my third time (at an Olympic Winter Games), so you get a little bit of experience, and this is a track and course that we know a lot from previously, and we've been doing a lot of World Cups here."
"It was good to get this good start - it feels amazing," he added. ■
