Why Norway & Italy Are Dominating The 2026 Winter Olympics
We’re halfway through the 2026 Winter Olympics, and Norway continues to dominate with eight gold medals and 18 medals total. Italy is trailing close behind with six gold medals, then the U.S. with four.
This year’s Games are not an outlier: Norway has finished near the top of the Winter Olympic medal table for decades. At the 2022 Winter Olympics they set an all-time record for gold medals won at a single Winter Games; in 2018, they set the current record with a total 39 medals won.
This led us to wonder: what about Norway — a tiny country of less than 6 million people — has made it such a powerhouse of Winter Olympic athletes? Spoiler alert: it’s not just the cold weather.
LEADING FACTORS FOR LEADING ATHLETES
Participation: By age 25, about 93% of Norwegians have played an organized sport, leaders of Norway’s sports system told the New York Times. That creates an enormous talent pool even with a small population.
By comparison, only two-thirds of Americans report playing a sport before age 18.
Funding: Norway’s oil wealth has made it one of the richest nations and helped fund coaching, equipment, training centers, and athlete support systems starting in the 1980s. That investment built a pipeline that runs from youth sports all the way to Olympic level competition.
And, if you gamble in Norway, two-thirds of casino revenue goes to sports teams.
Philosophy: Less difficult to quantify are the cultural influences. Keeping score is often discouraged in sports until about age 13. The goal is to keep as many kids playing as possible, including late bloomers, instead of cutting them early.
Social systems: Because many families have stable and shorter work hours, parents often have time to volunteer coach, drive kids to practice, and support youth athletics.
And sure, Norway is a cold country, so it makes sense they have better opportunities to hone their skills in winter sports. But what does that say about Finland or Denmark?
via GIS software company Esri
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
We’re also tracking Italy — the 2026 Winter Olympics host — which is tied with Norway as of Friday for most overall medals at 18. The country of nearly 60 million people seems to be outperforming itself — it placed 10th in the medal count during the 2022 Winter Games.
That’s not surprising: Data shows countries almost always win more medals when they host the Games.
Host nations benefit from home crowds, less travel fatigue, familiar food and training environments, and sometimes even larger team sizes or events tailored to sports they already dominate.