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By Gavin Kentch
The men had their first race of the Games earlier today, the 20km skiathlon. Klæbo won, because he tends to win mass start races when he is part of a small pack heading out onto the final lap. Okay he tends to win most races, but you see what I mean here. Second went to Mathis Desloges of France, in the race of the day, with Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget of Norway in third.
A press conference was held after the race. Here is audio of same for your enjoyment. The sound doesn’t start right away, sorry, but it kicks in eventually.
Yes we will have a race report up soon, but I have this now and so am sharing it now.
Here are some quotes from this press conference, courtesy of OIS (Olympic Information Services).
The following is all from OIS:
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR) – gold
On going for a clean sweep of six gold medals at Milano Cortina 2026:
“We’ll see. It’s a pretty good start. It was amazing out there. I had good skis, my body felt good and it’s always good to start a championship in good shape.
“It was really amazing today.
On feeling nervous:
“The last couple of days have been nerve-racking. I’ve had a very high resting heart rate these days.
“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.”
On potentially becoming the most decorated men’s cross-country skier:
“I’m going to take one race at a time and then we’ll see. But it’s a pretty good start and, with the weather and the crowds, it was amazing out there.”
Mathis Desloges (FRA) – silver
On claiming silver:
“I’m very happy. The preparations were very good.
”Two years ago today I became a world champion in under-23, now it’s different. I’m better than two years ago.
“This medal is for my family, for my friends, and I’d just like to say thank you to everyone, to the French (team) staff and my family.”
On Norway’s skiers being favourites before the race.
“The French athletes are very strong. Of course, the Norwegian guys are also very strong, but I believe we can be better. Today, I’m very good and I’m happy.”
On receiving a yellow card for not following the marked course:
“It was just a mistake. I didn’t want to gain any places. I don’t think it changed the outcome. I would like to say sorry.“
On roaring in celebration after winning the sprint for silver:
“It was incredible, crazy. There was a lot of emotion. It was like a victory for me. I have trained on this course a lot and I’ve been training for many months for that.
“I want to thank all my family and friends and all the French staff for supporting me.”
On becoming the second Frenchman to win an individual Olympic medal in cross-country skiing (after Roddy Darragon in 2006):
“I hope there will be more. We are all in good shape and I hope we can have some more good competitions in the sprint classic and the team sprint.”
Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget (NOR) – bronze
On the bronze medal:
“I’m really happy and proud. It’s a result of training but also of time off from family and hard mental work. The past days and weeks, I’ve been nervous, so it’s good to be done with my first Olympic race.
“To have this first race in this atmosphere, with these blue skies, and have my wife and little kid in the stadium somewhere – it’s a really good day.”
On whether gold and bronze was good enough for Norway:
“I think so. We have some really high pressure. We are doing crazy good in the World Cup, but usually in championships, all racers are at their very best. You see today that there is strong competition from the French and we took two podium places. It’s good.”
On silver medallist Mathis Desloges briefly taking a different route:
“The whole group tried to call him back, but I think he saw it too late. I don’t think he gained much from it. That’s OK. It’s not my decision so nothing I’m thinking too much about.”
On Norway’s dominance of cross-country skiing:
“Today we had a really strong fight with the French team; they had two really strong guys. We also had two other Norwegians who were favourites who didn’t have their (best) race.
“It is not like you can just collect a medal at the Olympics. I’m very happy to be one of those who got a medal today but the next race is another story and we have to be at top level.”
On losing out to Desloges for silver:
“He showed up for these Olympics in the best shape of his life and he’s an athlete we will see much more of in the coming years. He is still young and getting stronger every year. It was a really impressive level he showed today and I’m happy for him.
“I don’t think it was my best sprint ever, maybe I was a bit defensive on the way down towards the finish. It was really close but at least I still made a medal.”
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