When a Plan Comes Together—Norway’s Relay Gold

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When it comes to relays, Norway doesn’t need much of a plan. In place of a plan, what Norway has are the four fastest guys in the field. And it looked like the entirety of Norway’s plan was for those four fastest guys to ski like the four fastest guys . . . all so that the one fastest guy—Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo—could be somewhere in the vicinity of the lead with 500 meters left to race. If Norway could do that, then Norway would win the gold medal.

It’s an important thing, this Olympic Cross-Country Relay, one that Norwegians look upon rather like their Super Bowl. The mood of this Nordic nation for the next four years will be affected by the result of today’s ski race. That’s a heavy burden to load onto the shoulders of four ski racers, but there’s just no way around it. The relay matters to Norway, and the Norwegian national identity relies almost entirely on the outcome. Win, and the world makes sense . . . Anything but gold, and the universe is completely out of whack.

Norway remembers that it hasn’t always gone to plan: Russia upset Norway in 2022, Italy undid them in 2006, Sweden has been a regular interrupter of Norwegian bliss, most recently in 2010 and 2014. Norway almost always enters as the favorite, but sometimes their team was tripped up by circumstance: an untimely fall, an equipment malfunction, the wrong wax. At other times the reason was far worse—like against Russia in 2022—where Norway just got beaten by a faster team. For the Kingdom of Norway, that’s the kind of unthinkable tragedy they simply cannot tolerate.

Well, Norway’s tolerance was not tested on this day of relay racing in Val di Fiemme, and the Olympic gold medal was all but won by the end of the first leg. Emil Iversen handed a lead to Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, who extended the advantage for Einar Hedegart, who gave Klaebo a lead sufficient to make the anchor leg into a relaxed, casual victory lap. Behind Norway, France fought through deficits in the early legs to pull clear for silver, ahead of a late charge by Federico Pellegrino that secured bronze for a jubilant host nation.

Team Canada would race to an impressive fifth place finish on the combined efforts of Antoine Cyr, Xavier McKeever, Remi Drolet, and Thomas Stephen. They battled their way into contention in the early legs, and held on to cross the finish line well ahead of Team USA who finished sixth.

“I had really high hopes going into this race, and we had a really strong team, and we all, like, gave it everything we had and left it all out there,” said Stephen. “It was like, I gave everything I had, because the whole time I could see the podium, and it was right in front of me, and I was fighting for it to catch them, but yeah, in the end, I just couldn’t quite get there.”

The American men would ski well and proudly, securing the second-best relay finish in their many Olympic starts. But that brings up a fairly obvious question: might it not have been better if the American relay strategy were “Let’s skip this thing altogether, and save our energy for events where we actually could be contenders?” After all, the Team Relay is another exhausting competition for these skiers, and that represents an accumulation of fatigue that could be avoided, especially when the next event on the Olympic dance card is the Team Sprint. Team USA has skiers—Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher—could team up to legitimately contend in that event, and both of them were on the roster for today’s athletically expensive Team Sprint. Why not let Norway and France and Italy spend their athletes’ energy today while we put up our feet and watch a race that our participation was truly unlikely to affect anyway? Even with a fifth place in yesterday’s Women’s 4 x 7.5 Relay, this reporter felt the same way about the American women’s efforts. Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern were both on the relay roster, and both skied their hearts out in a fifth-place effort that was actually a better result than anticipated . . . but still fifth. Presumably, Diggins and Kern will be the pair entered in the Team Sprint. Wouldn’t it have been more prudent to keep them fresh for that event? Well, it should not come as a surprise that no Olympic coaches sought out my advice prior to these relay events, so I’ll just sit here in my armchair, happily lobbing criticisms at seasoned professionals who know their athletes far better than I do.

Leg 1

Ogden opened the American’s account in Leg 1, staying near the front, directly alongside Norway’s Emil Iversen who skied conservatively and kept Norway out of trouble. Ogden’s front row strategy seemed to be the essence of Team USA’s plan:

“If you lose contact here in Leg 1, the US doesn’t have the depth to make that up,” said on-air commentator, Kikkan Randall. It was as though she was whispering in Ogden’s ear, as he drove the pace, marked by Italy’s Davide Graz and Norway’s Iversen. Xavier McKeever continued to represent Canada  in  Leg 1, alongside Lauri Vuorinen of Finland. Team France found itself gapped; they’d have work to do in Leg 2.

“I love to be the scramble leg on the relay,” said Ogden. “It’s a really fun position to be in. And it’s not every day that I get to feel like I’m the one that chooses when the pace increases. And today I got to be that guy, which was pretty sick.”

Leg 2

Team USA was playing it’s strongest cards early—Gus Schumacher was tagged by Ogden as the Americans continued to push the pace. Finland’s Iivo Niskanen—arguably the best Classic skier in the field—settled back into the top five, where he was soon joined by the high-tempo scamper of France’s Hugo Lapalus. But the favorite was firmly ensconced at the front, where Martin Loewstroem Nyenget began to ski steadily away.

“Tony Cyr took it out super hot, but it kind of it comes back together,” said Schumacher. “I felt like I was able to stay relaxed and kind of come back. It’s nice to have just like a solid day where I feel like I was skiing high, I feel like I can ski and tag off in a good spot.”

“Yeah, I was really happy with my leg,” said Cyr. “Was pretty nervous going to today, just because I knew what this team’s potential was. And being leg one, you kind of get the first crack at setting the tone. And yeah, Ben Ogden went friggin hard up the big climb to the top on lap two. And I was kind of just like running for dear life, trying to hang on, and was able to catch up in the downhill.”

Leg 3

Norway’s Einar Hedegart (silver medalist in this week’s 10 k freestyle) was tagged by Nyenget with a 10 second lead over Finland. John Steel Hagenbuch took the tag from Schumacher just 15 seconds out of the lead, and in direct contact with the other medal contenders.

“Gus and Ben tagged us off in a really good position to be with the leaders,” said Hagenbuch. “And I guess I had the I had the tough position of being the one to lose the lead a little bit, but I was trying as hard as I could, and I was with the leaders at the top of the hill, and then just trying to do as much damage control as possible for the rest of the lap, in the second lap as well. But, you know, I had a great day the other day, and it just didn’t come together in the same way today. I think it’s a testament to how great our team is, and how great our team culture is, that these guys were there for me after that.”

“I got tagged by Tony in an amazing position,” said Drolet. “Right by the French team with Mattis Desloges. Obviously, he’s gotten two silver medals, obviously, and I think he was hungry to push the pace and try and catch Norway throughout the leg, and it was just so, so hard throughout that first lap.”

If there had been a perceived chink in the armor of Team Norway, it was the inexperience of Hedegart. He had over-cooked the pace in the earlier Olympic 10 k freestyle, even while showing that he possesses some of the sharpest fitness and greatest athletic talent of any skier in the field. The primary concern in his leg of the relay may have been that he is less experienced racing in a crowded mass-start field. Luckily for Norway, the other parts of their plan had worked, and Hedegart would ski the entirety of Leg 3 all alone, though France’s Mathis Desloges (silver medalist in the recent 10 k Freestyle) began to whittle away some of Hedegart’s advantage,

Leg 4

Hedegart delivered a healthy lead to Klaebo, who could either drive home the issue, or wait to sprint against the fast-closing Frenchman, Victor Loverra. Klaebo still has two more events to race at these Olympics, so he could be forgiven for his casual pace in the anchor leg.

Klaebo came through the first of his two laps with a 20 second lead over Loverra . . . one lap to go. Behind them, a national drama had begun to play out as Italy’s Federico Pellegrino had tracked down Finland’s Nikko Antola. There would be a battle for bronze.

In the end, Klaebo would make his long-anticipated finish, coasting unrivaled down the final straightaway. He would wave to the crowd, but not with the sort of flag-waving, fist-pumping celebration that would be the practice of mere mortals. With his fourth gold medal of these games, Klaebo stood alone as the winner of more gold medals than any other Winter Olympic athlete.

France was elated with its second place finish (improving upon the oft-repeated third-place finishes that have so often been France’s lot). Behind France, Pellegrino was welcomed by an ecstatic Italian crowd as Italy claimed the bronze.

“The first, like, kilometer and half Pelly started, and I gave it everything I had,” said Stephen. “I knew if I wanted a shot at the podium, I had to catch Pelly. So yeah, I tried to, but as I approached him close, he then took off and caught the Finland. So yeah, I couldn’t quite close that gap, but Fifth place is like a really amazing event, and I’m really proud of the whole team, for everyone putting together, like an amazing relay, and having a good day and just leaving it all out there.”

“It’s great for us, Olympic games at home,” said Markus Cramer, coach of the Italian Olympic Team. “And then bronze medal with the team, especially for Pellegrino. It’s great for us. Of course, we work long time for this, and now, of course, we were sure it was possible.”

And Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo changed the landscape of Olympic history: no winter Olympian has won more than Klaebo. And he still has two events remaining in these Games.

Men’s Olympic 4 x 7.5 k Relay RESULTS

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