Milan (Italy) (AFP) - Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo won a ground-breaking sixth gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, while heavy snow forced China’s freestyle skiing superstar Eileen Gu to wait for her elusive first title in Italy.

Klaebo’s victory in the men’s 50km mass start event saw him clinch his 11th Winter Olympics gold medal, extending the record he set earlier in these Games.

The 29-year-old also became the first athlete to win all six cross-country skiing races in one Olympics.

The only athlete in Winter or Summer Games history with more Olympic golds is American swimmer Michael Phelps, who won 23.

Gu had been aiming to win a gold of her own at these Games on Saturday, having taken two silvers so far.

But heavy snowfall forced organisers to postpone the women’s freeski halfpipe final.

The event at Livigno Snow Park, high in the Italian Alps, has been pushed back to 0940 GMT on Sunday, the final day of competition.

Gu arrived at the Games targeting a clean sweep of golds in her three events after winning two golds and a silver at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, where she was the host nation’s darling.

But she came up just short in the slopestyle and big air competitions in Livigno.

“Thank God this is my last event,” the 22-year-old US-born athlete said after qualifying earlier in the week. “I’m exhausted, I just want to go home to bed.”

- Double French gold -

A host of other gold medals were up for grabs on the final full day of action.

Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet combined to win gold for France in the mixed relay event of ski mountaineering in Bormio.

Ski mountaineering is making its Olympic debut at the Milan-Cortina Games and while the “skimo” sprints offered a condensed version of the sport, the mixed relay proved to be a true lung-busting race.

Harrop and Anselmet clocked a winning time of 26min 57.44sec in the relay, consisting of ascents on skis and sections on foot with skis attached to the backpack.

“It’s a crazy feeling. The Olympics are the top of any athlete’s dream,” said Harrop.

An hour later, France won their sixth gold medal in biathlon of this Games when Oceane Michelon took the glory in the women’s mass start event.

Biathlon accounts for six of France’s eight gold medals overall so far.

Canada, who were mired in a cheating controversy earlier in the tournament, beat Great Britain 9-6 in a tense final to win the men’s curling gold for the fourth time.

Brad Jacobs’s team secured their country’s first title in the event since defeating Britain in the 2014 gold-medal match in Sochi.

Britain had to settle for a third silver medal in the last four Olympic men’s curling competitions after slipping up in the last two ends in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The tournament was mired in controversy earlier in the Games when Canada’s Marc Kennedy insulted a Swedish opponent who accused him of cheating.

The spat led to fears that curling was losing its once genteel image and the Canadians faced criticism in their own national media.

After winning the title on Saturday, Kennedy said: “I don’t know if people will ever understand what we went through this week as a team, what I put them through this week as a team. I’m just so proud of them. I love these guys.

“There was a lot of hate out there this week, but we made a choice to not let any of that hate in the room, not give it a voice in our heads, and just trust one another.”

In a blockbuster end to the Olympics, tournament favourites Canada and the USA will face off for ice hockey gold on Sunday.

The USA are targeting their first Olympic title since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”.

Finland, the champions from Beijing in 2022, thrashed Slovakia 6-1 to take the bronze medal on Saturday.

Norway lead the medals table with 18 golds, while the USA are second with 11.