Cross-Country Skiing Olympic Games Milano Cortina

Winter Olympics: Shirtless Team USA skier John Steel Hagenbuch goes wrong way in bizarre error at start of cross-country event - 'Where is he going?'

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Team USA cross-country star John Steel Hagenbuch certainly caught the attention as he began his run in Friday's 10km interval start free. Not only because he took to the course shirtless, braving the freezing conditions with only a vest covering his top half, but also due to the fact he kicked off his run with a wrong turn. "He's gone the wrong way! Where is he going?" Scott Dixon said.

'What is this!' - Nightmare for shirtless skier as he goes wrong way

Video credit: TNT Sports

There were two striking aspects to John Steel Hagenbuch's run at Friday's 10km interval start free.

First, the Team USA star took to the gruelling course with nothing but his Olympic vest on his top half - braving the baltic conditions with his arms, shoulders and lower torso completely bare.

Then, he went the wrong way.

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In an unfortunate and bizarre error, Hagenbuch took a wrong turn at the start of the event, happily skiing away before coming to the realisation.

"He's gone the wrong way! Where is he going?" Scott Dixon said on TNT Sports commentary.

"The mistake he made there, he went onto the track he will be going on later today, but you have to take a right out of the stadium."

Whether it was through his own realisation, or whether he was informed via a member of the crowd standing nearby, Hagenbuch realised his error and quickly performed a 180 turn - shaking his head, seemingly in both disbelief and frustration.

Watch: 'Astonishing' Karlsson takes sparkling cross-country gold

Video credit: TNT Sports

"At least he turned around," Ian Woods said.

The last thing anybody needs in such a physically demanding event is to be putting in extra metres.

So the wrong turn represented a real blow for Hagenbuch, but he recovered admirably in order to record a 14th-placed finish - crossing the line in 21:41.10.

It came as no surprise that Johanes Hoesflot Klaebo scooped yet another gold - his eighth at Olympic level and his third at the Milano Cortina games - to further etch his name into the history books.

Klaebo then underlined his cross-country dominance by finishing just under five seconds ahead of second-placed Mathis Desloges.

In doing so, the Norwegian great levelled Bjorn Daehlie, Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Marit Bjorgen with his tally of eight golds - the most ever in Winter Olympic history.

And he has the chance to pull clear of the all-time best, with two relay events and the mass start still to come.

Klaebo's uphill dash en route to winning the classic sprint event earlier this week went viral, as he left the world to marvel at his incredible levels of physicality and endurance.

TNT Sports expert Dixon explained why the conditions on the course made his feat even more impressive than it first appeared.

Klaebo takes dominant victory to claim seventh Olympic medal

Video credit: TNT Sports

"Just to put this into perspective, these skis and poles, they actually have some weight to them," Dixon explained.

"So you're moving this equipment, and look at the speed he's going. There's also wax on his skis, so it's not as if there's a great connection to the snow. He's hurtling up this hill because he's an absolute machine that we've never seen before in the world of cross-country skiing."

Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.

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