Norway broke the Winter Olympic record with 18 gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics. | Credit: NBC Olympics

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics supplied fans with some improbable storylines, from the American men’s hockey team breaking a 46-year gold medal drought to Italian skier Federica Brignone capturing 2 gold medals just 10 months after suffering multiple leg fractures.

One storyline that did not surprise anyone was Norway winning the medal count for the third time in a row, as well as leading the gold medal count for the fourth consecutive time. This may not seem like a storyline at all, as many have come to expect Norway to win virtually every Winter Olympic Games at this point, but the impressive part of this feat is that they have done this with a population of less than 6 million people.

Medal CountMedal Count2026 Winter Olympics final medal count. | Credit: Olympics.com

Norway tallied a record 41 medals, 8 more than the second-place Americans, who have a population over 60 times that of Norway. Norway’s 18 gold medals at the 2026 games were also a record, with 6 of these golds coming from cross-country skier Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. Biathlete, Sturla Holm Lægreid, also put on quite the performance at these games, winning 5 medals, but he will likely be more remembered for his interview heard around the world, professing his love for his ex-girlfriend after admitting he had cheated on her. Another noteworthy Norwegian performance during these games came from Jens Lurås Oftebro, who won 3 gold medals in Nordic combined events, which consist of a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

A natural question someone might ask is how does a country with a population as small as Norway become so dominant at the Winter Olympics? One might point to Norway being one of the richest countries in the world per capita, thanks to its massive oil fund, which would allow it to fund athletes and grassroots programs better than most other countries. Although this does give them a competitive advantage, another interesting reason reveals itself when you look at the medal breakdown by discipline.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo set the record for most gold medals won by an athlete in a sigle Winter Olympics. | Credit: CBC

Of Norway’s 41 Olympic medals, 25 of them came from cross-country and biathlon events. Norway has secretly cracked the code to winning the Winter Olympics every year by dominating two sports that combine for 23 total events. This, however, does not diminish Norway’s success, as other Winter Olympic sports host double-digit events like speed skating and freestyle skiing, but no other country has been able to dominate a discipline quite like Norway has. Even without their cross-country skiing and biathlon medals, Norway was still able to capture 16 medals across five other sports. This being said, you could infer that countries like Canada probably wish there were more medals up for grabs in sports like hockey, but Norwegians would likely respond with “don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

Norway put on a clinic at these Winter Olympics and the country is proud of how its athletes competed. As fans and athletes turn their attention to the next Winter Olympics in France in 4 years, it will be interesting to see if anyone can knock off Norway as the gold standard of the Winter Olympic games.

Norway finished the 2026 Winter Olympics with a total of 41 medals, a Winter Olympic record. | Credit: New York Times