Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klabo claimed a breakthrough sixth gold medal at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, while heavy snow forced Chinese freestyle skiing superstar Gu Aileen to wait for her elusive first title in Italy.
Klebaugh won his 11th Winter Olympics gold medal by winning the men’s 50km mass start, extending his record set at this Winter Olympics.
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The 29-year-old also became the first athlete to win all six cross-country skiing events at one Olympics.
The only athlete in winter or summer Olympic history to win more Olympic gold medals is American swimmer Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals.
Gu is aiming to win a gold medal of her own at the Olympics on Saturday, having already won two silver medals so far.
But heavy snow forced organizers to postpone the women’s freeski halfpipe final.
The race at the Livigno snow park high in the Italian Alps has been postponed until 0940 GMT on Sunday, the final day of racing.
Gu is targeting a sweep of the three events after winning two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where she is the darling of the host country.
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But she struggled in Livigno’s slopestyle and big air events.
“Thank God this is my last race,” the 22-year-old American-born athlete said after qualifying earlier this week. “I’m tired, I just want to go home and sleep.”
– Double French Gold –
There were plenty of other gold medals up for grabs throughout the final full day of competition.
Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet teamed up to win gold for France in the ski mountaineering mixed relay in Bormio.
Ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut at the Milan-Cortina Games, and while the “ski” sprint was a condensed version of the sport, the mixed relay proved to be a true tuberculosis event.
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Harrop and Anselmet won the relay with a time of 26 minutes, 57.44 seconds, which included climbing on skis and hiking with skis on their backs.
“It’s a crazy feeling. The Olympics are the pinnacle of any athlete’s dream,” Harrop said.
An hour later, the French team won the women’s mass start event, the French team won the sixth gold medal in biathlon at this Olympic Games.
Biathlon has accounted for six of France’s eight gold medals so far.
The Canadian team, which has been embroiled in cheating controversies before, defeated the British team 9-6 in a tense final to win the men’s curling gold medal for the fourth time.
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Brad Jacobs’ team won the event for the first time since beating Great Britain in the 2014 gold medal game in Sochi.
GB had to settle for a third silver medal in men’s curling at the last four Olympics after losing their last two games in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The tournament was mired in controversy earlier when Canada’s Mark Kennedy insulted a Swedish opponent who accused him of cheating.
The row has raised concerns that curling is losing its once elegant image, and the Canadians have faced criticism from their own media.
“I don’t know if people will understand what we went through as a team this week and what I put them through as a team this week,” Kennedy said after Saturday’s win. “I’m proud of them. I love these guys.
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“There was a lot of hate this week, but we made the choice not to let any hate into the room, not to have a voice in our heads and just trust each other.”
On Sunday, Olympic favorites Canada and the United States will compete for ice hockey gold to cap off the Games.
Team USA is aiming for its first Olympic title since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
Finland, the 2022 Beijing Olympic champions, beat Slovakia 6-1 to claim the bronze medal on Saturday.
Norway leads the medal table with 18 gold medals, and the United States is second with 11 gold medals.
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