The Most Dominant Winter Olympian Ever? Klæbo’s 6 Golds at Milano Cortina 2026

The athlete with the most gold medals at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics is Johannes Høsflot Klæbo from Norway, who won 6 gold medals — a new record for the most golds by any individual at a single Winter Olympics.Historic AchievementKlæbo, the 29-year-old Norwegian cross-country skiing superstar (often called "King Klæbo"), completed a perfect 6-for-6 sweep in all men's cross-country events he entered.

This broke the longstanding single-Winter-Games record of 5 golds, previously set by U.S. speed skater Eric Heiden at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics (all individual events).

Klæbo's six golds came in:

Men's 20km Skiathlon

Men's Sprint (Classical)

Men's 10km Freestyle

Men's Team Sprint (Freestyle, with Einar Hedegart)

Men's 4x7.5km Relay

Men's 50km Classical Mass Start (final event on February 21, 2026, where he won in 2:07:07.1, leading a Norwegian podium sweep with Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget silver and Emil Iversen bronze)

This feat made him the first athlete ever to win six golds at one Winter Olympics, and no one had previously won six medals (of any color) at a single Winter Games in any sport.

Career ContextWith these six golds, Klæbo now has 11 career Winter Olympic gold medals across three Games (2018, 2022, 2026), making him the most decorated Winter Olympian by golds (trailing only Michael Phelps' 23 total Olympic golds overall).

He also added to Norway's record 18 golds (and 40 total medals) at these Games, the highest by any nation at a single Winter Olympics.

Comparison to Other Top Performers

No other athlete came close to 6 golds:Franjo von Allmen (Switzerland) — 3 golds (alpine skiing: men's downhill, super-G, team combined).

Jens Lurås Oftebro (Norway) — 3 golds (Nordic combined).

Jordan Stolz (USA) — 2 golds (speed skating: men's 500m and 1000m).

Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) — 1 gold (women's slalom).

Alysa Liu (USA) — 1 gold (women's figure skating singles).

Team golds (e.g., USA's mixed team aerials, relays) boosted national counts but not individual totals beyond Klæbo's dominance.

Klæbo's performance is widely regarded as one of the most dominant in Winter Olympic history, especially as a sprint specialist excelling in endurance events like the 50km. With the Games nearly over (109/116 events done as of Feb 21), his record stands unchallenged!