Cross-country: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo on the mental battle before Worlds: “Total crisis”

Norwegian cross-country star Johannes Høsflot Klæbo says the road to his historic six-gold sweep at the Trondheim World Championships was marked by a severe mental battle.

Speaking on the TV show “Skavlan & Sverige,” Klæbo explains that from August of the previous year he lived with extreme discipline: eating as healthily as possible, prioritizing sleep, and training more than ever. “I’m pretty sure no one in the world ate better, slept more, or trained more than I did in the months before Worlds,” he says. “It was my whole life from the moment I got out of bed until I went to sleep.”

As the championships drew closer, the mental pressure intensified. When he fell ill shortly before the event, he admits he saw things in very dark terms and even contemplated skipping the championships. “I black-painted everything. I said I’d go on holiday instead, because I felt it wasn’t going to work,” he says.

The interview focuses on whether the sacrifices were worth it after the resulting triumph. “Skavlan & Sverige” airs on SVT1 at 20:00 on October 9 and is available on SVT Play from 15:00 the same day.