SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Norwegian skier Johannes Klaebo is so good he just might win every single cross-country event at this year's Olympics. And if he somehow takes gold in all six competitions, he would be the most successful Olympic cross-country skier of all time. Nat Herz reports.
NAT HERZ, BYLINE: A few weeks ago, on a cross-country ski trail in Switzerland, competitor Johannes Klaebo made huge news on the TV broadcast back home in Norway, not because he finished first, but because he almost crashed and placed 17.
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HERZ: Cameras captured Klaebo angrily tossing his ski poles at the finish. He then skipped interviews and evaded a Norwegian TV station that sent a reporter to his hotel. Before that event, Klaebo had won his last 21 sprint races in a row against the best in the world.
KIKKAN RANDALL: It's one thing to get to the top. But to stay at the top and to stay healthy and to stay injury-free - to stay out of controversy, all those things - is not an easy thing to do.
HERZ: Kikkan Randall is a retired U.S. Olympic gold medalist. She says the Norwegian has shown an unusual mastery of cross-country sprinting, which up until Klaebo was a notoriously unpredictable format. There are crashes, chaotic corners, tight tactical decisions that made it almost impossible for any one athlete to dominate.
RANDALL: He seems to have an uncanny ability to stay on his feet, to stay out of trouble. And he does it while not necessarily just leading from the front every time. You know, you wonder if some of the other athletes go into races thinking that it's possible to beat him or whether they really almost are fighting for second place.
HERZ: Klaebo has long excelled at the short-distance sprint. But last year, when cross-country skiing's world championships were held in his home city of Trondheim, he won gold in all five other events, including the 30-mile marathon. The Olympics is a different animal. It's not on Klaebo's home trails, and there's another level of international pressure and attention. But rivals and pundits say a golden sweep of six medals isn't out of the question. In an interview with NPR earlier this year, Klaebo left the door open, too.
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JOHANNES KLAEBO: I think it's going to be hard to take six ever again. But, I mean, we have shown it's possible now.
HERZ: Leading up to his dominating championship performance last year, Klaebo was living like a monk - no alcohol, only his father/manager for company. Other athletes thought he might let up this year, but so far, Klaebo has proven them wrong. In a recent podcast appearance, he described his intense brand of competitiveness, one that allowed him to effortlessly betray his family members and girlfriend during a recent party game involving deception.
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KLAEBO: My siblings are not able to lie to people. And for me it was, like, no problem, because it was about competition.
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KLAEBO: So my girlfriend was just shocked that - why are you so good at lying? I'm like, it's a competition.
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KLAEBO: That's part of, like - that's what we are doing here.
HERZ: It's not the most fun for other athletes unfortunate enough to be competing during the Klaebo era.
GUS SCHUMACHER: Yeah, I'm just hoping he doesn't ski until he's 40.
HERZ: A top American Olympic skier, Gus Schumacher, says the one perk of racing against Klaebo is that when, or really, if anyone else beats the Norwegian, it's cause for huge celebration.
SCHUMACHER: For him, it sucks a little bit because, like, if you win, it's what everyone expected. But, like, if one of us wins, it's like the world falls apart. And then it's really fun and exciting, and you inspire a ton of people.
HERZ: Schumacher will face Klaebo in as many as six cross-country events in Italy. For NPR News, I'm Nat Herz. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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