Last week, this post went super viral: “The difference between summer and winter olympics is so funny winter athletes be risking they lives.”
And that person is right! The Winter Olympics are way more intense than the Summer Olympics, and you’re wrong if you disagree!
You’ve got people hurtling headfirst on an itty‑bitty, teeny‑tiny sled at 90 mph.
You’ve got downhill skiiers flinging themselves down a mountain so fast they quite literally fly.
And obviously, there’s this:
Backflips… on skates… on ice.
But what if I told you the most intense, athletically demanding event was actually cross-country skiing? Like, this man is literally FROTHING at the mouth.
Not only do they FROTH AT THE MOUTH, but they also push themselves in ways I didn’t know were humanly possible.
A WILD clip of Norwegian athlete Johannes Høsflot Klæbo SPRINTING up a hill in skiis is going viral. You can watch that here.
For those who didn’t read the fine print, he’s RUNNING up a hill on skiis at speeds over 11mph. That’s under a six-minute mile!
The responses to this have been quite good, and because I love a list, here are my 10 favorites:
10. “How my parents and grandparents describe going to school.”
9. “Can someone time his mile on flat ground he might break the sound barrier.”
8. “Cross country skiing is the hardest cardio I’ve ever done this man literally might be our greatest athlete.”
7. “How I feel when I am carrying three of my children at the same time.”
6. “Every single word in this tweet gave me heart palpitations.”
5. “I’ve seen enough: Klaebo is the fastest man alive.”
4. “Close enough welcome back Jesus Christ.”
3. “Me running to the gate after the agent announces they’re offering $300 to take the next flight instead:”
2. “You dont need to put a Norwegian flag on the graphic, we know what country he’s from.”
1. “They should let this guy specifically do steroids just so we can see how fast he can go.”
Sooo, in case you’re wondering, this is how he trains for it: