How Johannes Klaebo’s 6 gold medals rank among the all-time Olympic performances

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (1), of Norway, crosses the finish line first to win a gold during the 50-kilometer mass start cross-country skiing men’s competition at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Lago, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Vincent Alban/The New York Times)

By VICTOR MATHER

If you want to win a lot of gold medals at an Olympics, you can be Johannes Klaebo, the cross-country skier who won all six of his events at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. His latest was the gold Saturday in the 50-kilometer mass start individual race.

Otherwise, maybe be a swimmer.

Here’s a list of top gold medalists in modern Olympic history.

Eight golds

Michael Phelps, 2008

The king of the Olympics is, of course, Michael Phelps.

His peak came in 2008 in Beijing when he won an astonishing eight swimming gold medals: one in freestyle, two in medleys, two in butterfly and three in relays.

It’s very helpful when your country is also the best at your sport. Had Phelps been from, say Myanmar or Ecuador, taking those relays would have been a lot tougher.

Case in point, the most thrilling of Phelps’ golds, the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Phelps swam leadoff and was actually out-touched by an Australian, Eamon Sullivan. By the time of the fourth leg, though, it was the French who were threatening to take away the United States’ and Phelps’ gold.

It took a miraculous rally by Phelps’ teammate Jason Lezak to win the gold by a whisker.

Seven golds

Mark Spitz, 1972

The benchmark Phelps bested was set by Mark Spitz, who was seven-for-seven in 1972.

Or make that seven-for-seven-for-seven. Besides winning the gold medal in each of his events, he broke all the world records.

Like Phelps, Spitz captivated the American public and gained endorsement deals and fame.

But a few days after his final swim, the good feelings were derailed by the kidnapping and eventual death of 11 Israeli hostages at the Games.

Six golds

Phelps, 2004

Three athletes had previously hit the six golds that Klaebo reached Saturday. One was, well, Phelps.

There was talk of seven or even eight golds that year as well.

Entered in the same events as he would be in 2008, Phelps came up with bronze in the 200 freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle relay. But he won the other six.

Six golds

Kristin Otto, 1988

Kristin Otto was part of East Germany’s final Olympic team before the reunification with West Germany. The nation’s athletes, especially the women, were often accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Some confessed, but Otto was never implicated.

What is beyond doubt was that Otto, a sprint specialist, swam extremely fast. She was also remarkably versatile, winning golds in freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and relays.

Six golds

Vitaly Scherbo, 1992

And, hold on, a nonswimmer!

Vitaly Scherbo dominated gymnastics at the Barcelona Games.

He won the horse, the rings, the parallel bars and the vault. He also won the individual all-around and the team event as part of the “Unified Team,” the successor to the Soviet Union. (He was Belarusian.)

If you’re wondering where the female gymnastics stars like Nadia Comaneci are on this list, remember they are limited by having only four individual apparatus events to compete in, not six, like Scherbo and the men.

Six golds

Klaebo, 2026

Klaebo is simply the greatest male cross-country skier ever. His six golds in Italy are the most by an athlete at a single Winter Games.

He is so famous that eight years ago, they named a hill after him in South Korea — the famed Klaebo bakken, which broke just about every cross-country skier who faced it (who was not named Klaebo).

Three golds in Pyeongchang, two in Beijing, and now six more in Milan: the skiathlon, the sprint, the individual, the mass start and two different relays.

That gives him 11. Second overall behind Phelps’ (gulp) 28.