Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won the men's 10km freestyle interval start cross-country skiing race at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, with France's Mathis Desloges taking silver and Norway's Einar Hedegart bronze. Canadian skier Max Hollmann finished 23rd in 21:56, while Ireland's Thomas Maloney Westgård placed 54th amid warm conditions and soft snow. The event tested endurance on a 10km course with uphill, downhill and flat sections.
The men's 10km interval start race took place on Friday, February 13, 2026, at the Tesero Cross-Country Stadium in northern Italy. Athletes started one at a time, 30 seconds apart, in a freestyle format covering 10 kilometres. The course featured varied terrain, including uphills, downhills and flats, challenging competitors' speed, technique and endurance. Conditions included blue skies, temperatures around 5 Celsius and soft snow due to warm weather; organizers had salted the track the previous day but left it untouched for the race.
Klaebo's victory marked a strong performance for Norway, which also secured bronze through Hedegart. Desloges' silver highlighted France's competitiveness in the event. Among other notable results, Canada's Tom Stephen placed ninth and Remi Frolet 19th, contributing to a solid team showing with three finishers in the top 30. Hollmann, a 24-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ontario, expressed optimism beforehand, telling CBC, “I'm stoked. I mean, I think it's my best event and the conditions are good. Our skis have been running well, so the stars are starting to align.”
Ireland's Maloney Westgård, competing in his third Olympics, finished 54th. The Norway-born skier, who has a Galway mother, noted the soft snow made pacing crucial. He said, “It was a soft race; pacing was crucial in this one,” and added, “I didn’t really have the last gear today.” Despite struggling early, he recorded top-10 splits in the final 4.9km. Westgård had placed 35th in the preceding 20km skiathlon.
Hollmann's result followed his 27th in the skiathlon, his Olympic debut. He overcame a fall injury and wrist surgery before trials, training without poles for months. Julian Smith of Canada's National Team Development Centre called the top-30 finishes “fantastic,” especially against Scandinavian dominance. Both Hollmann and Westgård eye further events, including the 50km mass start and possible relays.
