Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo could contend for his first gold in the cross-country skiing men’s 10km free race on Friday at Milan Cortina 2026.

A 10km gold in the freestyle technique has eluded the Norwegian, who already has two gold medals from these Winter Games. This detail leaves an opening on the podium for the Americans and other international athletes with World Cup wins in the 10km freestyle event.

Klaebo can’t be entirely counted out with the way he's been accelerating. He has two 3rd-place World Cup finishes in this event, with the most recent one coming in March 2025. If his strategy, equipment, and speed align, he could ski to gold.

In the previous men’s event, American Ben Ogden won a surprise silver in sprint freestyle. The sheer energy from ending the U.S. men’s 50-year drought could propel him and teammate Gus Schumacher in the race.

Schumacher is considered the best U.S. men’s cross-country skier and was the highest-ranked American man in the skiathlon. He made history for Team USA in this event in 2024 when he had a breakthrough win at a World Cup race.

In total, Norway has four medal contenders — Klaebo, Einar Hedegart, Harald Oestberg Amundsen, and Mattis Stenshagen — and could sweep the podium. Hedegart, who recently switched from biathlon to cross-country skiing, has won two World Cup races in the 10km freestyle.

Klaebo scored the bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Games when this race was contested in the classic technique. livo Niskanen of Finland won the gold medal, and Aleksandr Bolshunov (ROC) earned the silver medal.

At Tesero, the race will take athletes about 20 to 23 minutes to ski three laps around a 3.3-kilometer course for a total of 10 km (6.2 miles). The athletes will start at staggered times, going every 30 seconds to race for the fastest time.