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Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo may be tired, but far more daunting than any mere fatigue is what Klaebo’s rivals find themselves facing: futility.
Weekend after weekend, race after race, kilometer after kilometer, finish line after finish line, Klaebo is proving himself to be all but unbeatable. He toys with his rivals in Sprint races, whether Classic or Freestyle; he takes advantage of his superior speed and tactical acumen in Mass Start races of every distance. He even displays superior pacing, restraint, endurance, and discipline in Interval Start events. And when Klaebo skis the anchor leg of your relay, then your team wins. Such athletic dominance is not a thing that lasts—and even Klaebo is likely to find himself beaten soon—but when an athlete’s on an historic streak like this, it’s a remarkable thing for fans of the sport to witness.
In Lahti, Klaebo’s dominance was on display again, as he glided to yet another World Cup victory in the 10 k Classic Interval Start. Mid-race splits identified Russian independent skier, Savelii Korostelev as a challenger, but Klaebo would pull away from him in the end, bettering the young Russian’s finishing time by 34 seconds. Between them, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget mounted a challenge of his own. While Nyenget has emerged as one of the dominant Classic skiers of this generation, still he trailed Klaebo at every checkpoint. Ultimately, Nyenget would finish second, but still some 22 seconds behind.
If all these skiers want to beat Klaebo, they need to find another way to do it. Maybe the best tactic is to simply wait. Everybody gets sick some day, don’t they? Everybody shows up flat now and then, right? Perhaps the best tactic to employ in chasing Klaebo is to stop chasing. Just let him flame out at some point, and hope to be the one best positioned in the crowd to catch the bridal bouquet when it flies through the air.
Men’s 10 k Classic
Korostelev entered the World Cup circuit and Olympic events after Russia’s long exile, hoping to establish himself at the top of the cross-country ski standings (as he had already accomplished in races within Russia over the past two seasons). Korostelev must be asking himself “Just how fast do I need to go?” Well, “Historically fast” would appear to be the answer to Korostelev’s question.
Here’s the pertinent question for anyone in the field not named Klaebo: just how far will they go in pursuit of this guy? It’s an especially pressing question for Klaebo’s Norwegian teammates who are compared to him on a week-by-week basis, and who are all hoping to position themselves to be his heir (even as he shows no signs of considering retirement). Any number of those Norwegian stars may have hoped to topple Klaebo in an Olympic event. He was vulnerable, after all; racing every single event while other skiers got to pick and choose. For Harald Oestberg Amundsen, for Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, for Emil Iversen, for Mattis Stenshagen, for Lars Heggen, for Einar Hedegart—all of whom had been identified as skiers with the potential to steal away one of Klaebo’s gold medal opportunities—the chase to catch Klaebo may ultimately ruin them. In the Olympics, most of them appeared flat, as though they may have over-trained, or delayed their much-needed rest, or failed to taper sufficiently in their quest to grab a career-defining medal. Alone among them, Iversen appeared satisfied to follow Klaebo’s lead, joining Klaebo for much of his training throughout the off-season and competitive-season even though it meant that Iversen was unlikely to achieve any sort of advantage over him. Iversen was smart enough to know that Klaebo’s prowess could lead them both to Olympic medals, and that’s precisely what happened. The rest of the Norwegian contingent left Milan-Cortina with anumber of medals, but draped in quite a bit less glory than they might have hoped.
And here’s the dilemma for Klaebo, himself: how does an athlete seek to maintain the form that they have? Is it possible to just hold one’s position, or does an athlete need to keep getting better? And how much risk is involved in attempting to improve? Just ask Klaebo’s Norwegian teammates . . . they’re trying as hard as they can, trying new things, risking greatly. And it’s not working. If anything, their efforts are opening the door for the stars of other nations that are approaching from behind. Matthis Desloges (FRA) claimed numerous silver medals in the recent Olympics—medals originally thought reserved for Norwegian skiers. And as the World Cup tour enters Period 4, Norwegian skiers find themselves delivering results well down the page, rather than stacking all the Norwegian finishers at the top, which was the norm for much of the pre-Olympic season.
Wearing bib 54, Klaebo was the first of the true contenders to start, meaning he would receive less info communicated to him on course when compared to other later-starting contenders. In what is often considered Klaebo’s most challenging event (the interval start 10 k) Klaebo would find himself needing to overcome that small disadvantage as well as the best efforts of his rivals.
