Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, after 6 Olympic gold medals, eyes another big goal

One can imagine how drained Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo must have felt after winning six gold medals at the Milan Cortina Olympics by skiing nearly the distance from Earth’s surface to outer space . Yet Klaebo was even more tired the morning after an all-night celebration that followed his closing victory in the grueling 50km: a couple of beers with his Norwegian team, then a restaurant get-together with friends and family. "When I came back to Norway the day after, I was super exhausted," he said.

"Just had a couple of days where I was just laying on the couch, barely doing anything. " Four weeks later, Klaebo is in Lake Placid, New York, where he traveled for this weekend's Stifel World Cup Finals, the last races of the season ( broadcast schedule here ). There is more history at stake, though a recent stumble put Klaebo's bid into serious doubt.

The 29-year-old from Trondheim can become the second man to sweep the sprint, distance and overall World Cup season titles in the same year after countryman Thomas Alsgaard in 1997-98. The sprint and distance standings were introduced in 1996-97, joining the overall, which has been awarded since 1982. Klaebo already clinched his sixth overall title (tying Norwegian Bjorn Daehlie's record) and eighth sprint title (three more than any man or woman).

He trails Norwegian Harald Oestberg Amundsen by three points in the distance standings, a table he has never topped. That margin is smaller than the difference between finishing first and second in one race, so results in Friday's 10km classic (individual) and Sunday's finale, a 20k freestyle (mass start), will be critical. But it wasn't announced until late Tuesday that Klaebo would trek to the 1980 Olympic host site nestled in the Adirondacks.