Cross-country: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo opens up about the ruthless choices he made

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo says he will keep his standards high heading into the Olympic season, even spending Christmas at altitude in Davos rather than at home. In an interview with NRK, he revisits the ‘cynical’ approach he adopted in the year before the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim: minimize social contact, decline invitations, and make hard choices that would not win popularity contests—but could maximize performance.

That strategy paid off with a perfect World Championships: six starts, six gold medals in Trondheim. Yet Klæbo admits the price was steep. At one point, his partner Pernille Døsvik told him that her sister’s young children wondered if he was still their uncle; he had not seen them since Easter 2024 as he kept himself inside a protective “bubble” to avoid illness before Worlds.

Another flashpoint was his decision to skip the Norwegian Championships (NM) at Gåsbu. Event director Gudbrand Skraastad blasted the no‑show as a ‘catastrophe for Norwegian cross-country,’ calling it disrespectful to the sport, organizers and NRK, and harmful for recruitment. Klæbo says the criticism made him angry, especially when headlines framed him as a ‘scandal’ or ‘failure’ for Norwegian skiing. He insists the choice was justified: beyond managing load after the Tour de Ski, he had woken with a painful shoulder before the Alpe Cermis finale in Cavalese and could not train with poles when NM started.

In a new documentary about the 29‑year‑old, his father and manager Haakon Klæbo is shown reacting strongly to the media storm and arguing that organizers could have called before going public. He also defends Johannes’ contribution to youth recruitment, saying his son gives significant time to children and young athletes.

Skraastad tells NRK he later agreed with cross‑country chief Cathrine Instebø that she would convey a personal apology to Klæbo. Still, he stands by the principle that the best athletes should compete at NM to promote the sport, acknowledging he might have phoned Klæbo first. After the home Worlds, Klæbo did race the second part of NM with a smile.

Looking ahead to the Olympic season, Klæbo plans another high‑altitude Christmas camp in Davos and remains steadfast: do the work, make the right—if ruthless—choices, and deal with the fallout later.