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Veteran sportswriter Richard Deitsch takes an international view of the Olympics.
So how does Norway do it? How does a country of 5.7 million people become a Winter Olympic power? I’m thinking someone needs to check on the ingredients of fårikål and market it to other countries quickly.
The Scandinavian Olympic giant captured its 17th gold medal on Friday — biathlete Johannes Dale-Skjevdal did the honours by winning the 15-kilometre mass start race — to set a new record for the most gold medals won by a nation at a single Winter Olympics.
Who held the old record? That would be Norway at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with 16 gold medals.
“We try not to focus on winning too early,” Tore Oevreboe, Norway’s head of delegation told Reuters. “We should not create losers. We should create young small winners …The winning part is to be part of the sport and have joy.
“The point of doing sport in Norway is to lead a good life. So you start young and learn motor skills, social skills, and then you learn how to use your body in a physical setting.”
Whether on the ground or in the air, the Norwegians Olympians exude technical prowess, endless enthusiasm and speed. The result is Olympic hardware — 37 medals at the Milano-Cortina Games. Norway has won 11 medals in biathlon, 10 medals in cross-country skiing, five in ski jumping, four in speedskating, three in nordic combined, and two in alpine skiing and freestyle skiing.
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal was the only biathlete to hit all 20 targets in the 15-kilometre mass start race, to win Norway’s 17th gold medal of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, breaking the record for the most golds won by a nation at a single Winter Games.
Norway entered these Games with the most golds (148), silvers (134) and bronzes (124) in Winter Olympic history. The United States, with a population of roughly 350 million, was second heading into the competition with 114 gold medals. (Canada was fifth at the beginning of these Games with 77 golds.)
The gold-medal haul for Norway is likely to increase in the final two days. The men’s 50km mass start classic (5 a.m. ET on Saturday) is one last opportunity to watch Norway cross-country legend Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. The 29-year-old has 10 career Olympic gold medals, including five at these Games. No Winter athlete has ever won six gold medals at the same Olympics.
Do not bet against Klæbo. Do not bet against Norway.
The Current8:31How Norway achieves Winter Olympic dominance through joy
Norway has taken a different approach to youth sports – and it seems to be paying off at the Winter Olympics. How centering joy rather than competition is keeping kids playing and what Canada might be able to learn from this system.
What to watch on Saturday
China’s Ning Zhongyan produced one of the shocking upsets of the Games when he beat American Jordan Stolz in the men’s speedskating’s 1,500 metres event. Stolz returns to the Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Saturday for his final event, the men’s speed skating mass start. If he wins, his final medal totals from the Milan-Cortina Games will be three golds and one silver. The semifinals begins at 9 a.m. ET. The final is 10:40 a.m. ET.
One of my favorite stories out of these Olympics — American bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor — gets one more chance at a medal in the two-woman bobsled. Meyers Taylor won her first career gold medal in the women’s monobob on Monday. She’s 41, a disability advocate, and the mother of two kids with special needs — it’s hard not to root for her. But it’s going to be tough sledding – she and Jadin O’Brien are currently in 12th after two heats.
The Germans — it’s always the Germans in sliding sports — sit in the 1-2 position in the two-woman bobsled after two heats with defending champion Laura Nolte and brakewoman Deborah Levi in front at one minute 53.93 seconds and Lisa Buckwitz and Neele Schuten at 1:54.11. Kaillie Humphries Armbruster, who won bronze in the monobob, and Jasmine Jones are in third at 1:54.16. Kim Kalicki and Talea Prepens of Germany are in fourth (1:54.36). Heat 3 begins at 1 p.m. ET. The final run goes at 3:05 p.m. ET.
China’s Eileen Gu is the defending gold medallist in the women’s halfpipe and has won five Olympic snowboarding medals in her career. This story from The Athletic on Gu (“All of it — her divisive decision to represent China, her continuing pursuit of history in the women’s freeski events, her exploding celebrity — has come at a cost. “I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever,” Gu said.) is worth reading. The final goes at 1:30 p.m. ET. Gu is No. 8 in the start order.
Olympic imagery
Numbers to know
6.9 million – Number of American viewers that watched the U.S. men’s hockey team’s overtime win over Sweden, the most-watched Olympic men’s hockey game in the U.S. since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics gold-medal game.
5.3 million – Number of American viewers who watched the women’s gold-medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada, the most-watched women’s hockey game on record in the United States. The game’s audience peaked at 7.7 million viewers in overtime (3:45-4 p.m. ET).
29 – Games United States women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight played during her Olympic career, tops among all U.S. women Olympic hockey players.
15 – Olympic goals for Knight, tops among all U.S. women Olympic hockey players.
9 – Olympic medals for French biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet, who won a bronze in the men’s 15km mass start behind Norway’s Johannes Dale-Skjevdal and Sturla Holm Laegreid. Ole Einar Bjorndalen of Norway has the most medals all-time in Olympic biathlon with 13 (including eight gold).
1 – Tweet from Finnish hockey legend Teemu Selänne about Canada’s win over Finland.
What we’re reading around the web
► On-ice cameraman brings new Olympic angle. By Rory Carroll of Reuters
► My sister just won the gold medal for Team USA hockey. She earned it. By Nate Heise of The Athletic
► U.S. women make every second count. By Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post.
► Casey Wasserman Must Resign. The Integrity of the 2028 L.A. Olympics Depends on It. By Michael Rosenberg of SI.
► Will the Olympics bid farewell to one of its toughest winter sports? By Brian Melley of The Associated Press
► Alysa Liu, her father Arthur and Chinese spies: Unusual road to Olympics. By Josh Peter, USA Today
► Hilary Knight gets storybook ending to Olympic hockey career: ‘Legends do legendary things’ By Michael Russo of The Athletic.
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