How Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo Became the Winter Olympics GOAT

When Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo crossed the finish line first on Feb. 18, giving this country a victory in the men’s team sprint free event, he certified himself as the Winter Olympics GOAT. Klaebo, 29, won his fifth Olympic gold of these Milano Cortina Games, in five events, and became the first Winter Olympian ever to reach the double-digit mark in career gold medals. Klaebo goes for No. 11, on Saturday, in the 50-km mass start classic. 

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

While prepping for the most prestigious race on the cross-country program, Klaebo took a break to talk to TIME about a wide range of subjects, including how Norway’s youth sports system produces Olympic champions, why he’s not spending much time with his family and fiancée, cross-country memes, and what’s on his bucket list.

[This interview has been condensed for length and clarity]

You’ve won five gold medals during these Winter Olympics, set the new all-time winter record with 10 golds in your Olympic career, and if you win the 50-km mass start classic on Saturday, you’d be the first Winter Olympian to ever win six golds at the same Games. So what’s going through your mind right now? 

I’m just trying to let everything sink in a little bit. Really eager to do well on Saturday. So it’s kind of finding the balance, in terms of how much you will enjoy the moment and how much you are trying to prepare yourself for what’s ahead. So far it feels really good. And now, with just one more race to go, it’s going to be nice to wrap it all up.  

Read More: Alysa Liu Is the Women’s Olympic Skating Champion

So what can you do to enjoy the moments, knowing that you’ve still got work to do? 

We have a pretty good team here. So we try to stick together. We are eating long dinners. We have long lunches. When it comes to enjoying it too much, I have my family here and everything and just decided that’s going to be too much. I don’t have time to do everything. Having my girlfriend here as well, it’s been just FaceTime. I haven’t been able to see her more than just saying hi at the stadium. So I think that’s kind of the balance we are trying to figure out. 

So you haven’t seen your family or your fiancée in person, besides hugging after race victories? You haven’t had long dinners with them or anything? It’s just with your team?

Absolutely. The last time I was back home was the start of January. I was there for two days. Besides that, I haven’t been home since the start of December. I have 250 days away from home every single year. I tried to bring my fiancée as much as possible. But during the Olympics, with the accreditation and all these kinds of things, it’s really strict. It’s easier for her to stay with my family and just have fun. Then I will join them on Saturday.

What are you going to do on Saturday night, win or lose? 

We’re going to have a nice dinner. That’s kind of the minimum of what we’re going to do. When I look back at this Olympics, they will for sure be unbelievable anyways. But it’d be cool to finish it up with this total sweep. So we’ll see.

What’s been your favorite long meal with your team so far? What have you had to eat?

I’m pretty strict in terms of what I’m eating. During the Olympics, there’s a lot of rice, chicken, and vegetables. So it’s quite a boring dinner. The nice part is that we’re actually sitting there for a long time, just trying to speak about the races. We speak about how privileged we are to be here and to enjoy this. This is my third Olympics. The last one in Beijing, for us athletes, you needed to test for COVID twice per day. We were eating with boxes on the side. It felt more like work. Here it feels like this is what I like to do. This is more my hobby. I think that is making a big difference, mentally especially.

People are fascinated by Norway’s Winter Olympic dominance. And a lot has been made about the youth sports system there, that keeping score is not allowed in kids’ games. Is that really true? In cross-country, if you finish first, isn’t it obvious that you won? 

When you’re younger, like 8 to 12, if you’re starting first, your name will be first on the start list, but on the side you will see your time. So say that you’re 3 min. and 40 sec., and then the last one on the starting list is 3 min. and 28 sec. He was faster, but you needed to go into that and kind of look. 

Ah, so they don’t put the results in order, just the start. 

The reason is we want everyone to stay along for as long as possible. They try to not focus too much on the results. They’re focusing more on participation and that people are there and having fun and enjoying the races, more than who is winning.

Read More: How U.S. Women’s Hockey Took Gold and Glory in Incredible Overtime Win Over Canada

And you played other sports, I believe, besides cross-country. What are some of the other sports you tried? 

I did a lot of things. I played soccer. That was kind of what I wanted to be when I grew up. But it didn’t turn up that way. Then I was doing a little bit of track and field. I was cycling a little bit. I tried biathlon. I was playing an instrument. So I did a lot of things when I grew up, but the majority of my time was spent on the soccer field and also out running and doing stuff for cross-country. 

Do you think the fact that you played all these different sports at least partially explains why we’re seeing these results from you? 

I think so. It’s good when you are younger to try different sports and to be able to learn different patterns and movements. Then at some point you need to decide for sure. But I didn’t decide before I was about 16. I still played soccer until I was close to 20. When you’re playing soccer, you’re doing shorter sprints, you’re being a little bit more explosive. When you’re cross-country skiing, it’s more like endurance. It’s a mix of everything. And that was what I tried to do when I was younger, to see if I can combine it as much as possible. And then these days, I think that has helped me a lot to be able to be at my best. 

Your uphill sprint has gone viral. Have you enjoyed seeing the memes? What’s your favorite one? 

The one I think is the most fun is you see how fast I’m running, and then when people are just then trying to do the same on the treadmill. You see it’s actually quite fast. It’s cool to see that cross-country skiing has kind of gone a little bit viral, and to see people getting their eyes opened to what we are doing in cross-country skiing. 

I’m from the United States, and on the men’s side, America has had its first Olympic cross-country medalists in 50 years. But cross-country is not beloved like it is in Norway. What do you want people to know in the United States, and other places around the world, about your sport that maybe they don’t realize or don’t see or don’t appreciate?

A lot of people think it’s all about endurance. But the good part about doing cross-country skiing is that we’re using our legs, we’re using the upper body, and you’re using your endurance. Meaning that it’s one of the healthiest sports you can do when it comes to staying active. I know that in the U.S., it’s not possible to go skiing everywhere, as it is in Norway during the winter. But you can go roller skiing, which is pretty much the same. You’re still using your upper and lower body and endurance. It’s really less injury risk than doing cycling or running. 

Read More: Mikaela Shiffrin Redefines Olympic Legacy With Slalom Gold

Has anyone from another sport tried to recruit you? 

I’ve gotten some questions about cycling. I’m close to 30 now, so I think it’s a little bit too late to start exploring. I think I will stick to cross-country skiing. 

Michael Phelps has the all-time Olympic record, with 23 golds. You might get 11 once you’re through here. Might you try to catch him? Is that a goal of yours, to become the all-time gold-medal winner in Olympic history?

That’s going to be hard. Because then I need to do two more Olympics, and I need to win every single event. That will be quite crazy. I’m second. I think I’m going to stay second. It’s cool to get the question. But I don’t think it’s that realistic, to be honest.

But when I say you’re the greatest Winter Olympian of all time, do you agree with that?

It’s pretty crazy to hear that. It’s unbelievable. My goal when I was younger was to be able to do cross-country skiing for a living. It’s just been way more than I could ever expect or dream about. 

Some people would try to play down the Winter Olympics GOAT label. But it sounds like you accept that title. Fair? 

The good part is that we actually have the numbers for it. For me, I will never try to go down that lane. To be honest, I think there are so many great athletes participating in the Olympics, whether it’s freeskiing or it’s skeleton. It’s pretty sick to have the record, for sure. But I think it’s important to mention that there are so many good athletes out there, and I have a huge respect for what everyone is accomplishing. 

Read More: Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara Are the Olympic Pairs Skating Champions

You can obviously do it all in your sport. The sprints and the distance. But what excites you about doing the 50-km distance race? What’s the challenge of it? 

There are so many changes during the race. You can feel really good after 20 km and then you can feel terrible after 30 km. You’re going through so many different emotions. That’s the beauty about it. At some point you will be really tired, and at some point you will feel like you are unstoppable. You’re two hours staying in your own head. You’re just kind of working against yourself on so many levels. 

Any fun facts people should know about you? 

When I prepare myself for a race. I always play my PlayStation. So if you see back here, this is kind of my setup. [Shows gaming desk on video.] During summer, I like to play golf. When I had a couple of training camps in Utah, I always used to bring my golf clubs to be able to play a little bit on the rest days.

I’m sure you can keep your anonymity in Utah, though that may soon change.

Yeah, it’s definitely a big difference. In Utah, it’s easy. No one is recognizing you. I can just do my thing. It’s actually very good when it comes to the altitude and all the terrain and everything. Roller skiing and cycling. It’s really been a perfect place for me to stay.

What’s difficult about being a celebrity in Norway?

I wouldn’t say that it’s difficult. But if you’re going to just do your grocery shopping, it’s not always that you are feeling at your best, stopping and getting your picture taken and everything. That’s part of the game. Sometimes you would like to not get recognized. But on the other hand, I feel really privileged that people are watching our races and following us. It’s very important for me to give back. I always try to say yes, because I remember how it was when I was younger. I had someone I looked up to and wanted to take a picture with. I would feel bad if that person didn’t stop and say hi. 

OK, a few quick ones to wrap up. What’s a bucket-list thing you want to do in life that you haven’t done yet?

That’s actually a really hard question. I don’t know if it’s a bucket list, but the plan is to go to the World Cup. I have a few friends that play on the national team in Norway. So I will travel to New York and then fly out to Boston to see the Norwegian team start their World Cup. That’s something I’m really looking forward to. 

Are you friends with Erling Haaland? 

Not really. We have a few of the same sponsors. But Alexander Sørloth, another striker, is a good friend of mine. We normally have a vacation together every year. So we’ll go to watch them, and then hopefully in the summer we’ll have a vacation when they’re done with the World Cup. Hopefully after a long World Cup for Norway. 

We actually did a cover story on Erling last year, and he talked about how he eats cow heart. Do you eat cow heart too?

Oh no. I don’t eat cow heart. But it’s kind of the same philosophy. It’s all about eating clean. So we’re eating clean meats. All of us are trying to optimize our body. The nutrition part is very important. I have this place where I always buy my meat. The next thing is going to be cow hearts, I guess. 

What is the biggest challenge you’ve had in your life, and how did you overcome it?

One of the biggest ones was when I was 15. That was when I made my decision that I wanted to do cross-country skiing. And at that time I was around 100 in Norway on the result list. I was really small when I was 15. It was hard to compete against people that were twice as high as I was. I really, really struggled on the races. But I kept being patient and focusing on the thing that I could put my energy on, which was my technique and my balance. It took a couple of years before I started to grow. But when I first started to grow, I was starting to fight for the top positions in my country for my age. And that was nice. 

Especially if you complete the six-gold sweep on Saturday and make more Olympic history, you’re going to be in high demand. Now’s the time to, say, meet anyone in the world you want. Who would you love to meet and spend some time with?

It would be cool to meet some of the big stars on the PGA Tour. 

Anyone in particular? 

I know that he’s not a part of the PGA tour that much right now, but Tiger Woods is one of the biggest there has ever been. He would definitely be up there. 

Have you ever been to the Masters?

Never. That would be one of the coolest things to do.

If you win, you can request an invite right now to the Augusta National folks.

Then I hope I get the invite

Well, I hope they read this and do the right thing. You deserve it, Come on, Augusta.