Hey everybody, welcome back to explainercome5. The podcast we did the questions you always wanted to ask and talk about them the way that's easy to understand. We are your hosts. I'm Tim.
And I'm Kevin. So Kevin, today we are talking about the Winter Olympics. And specifically, we've been looking at the metal count from the 2026 Milano Cortina Games. And I want something to explain.
How did a country, Norway, with only 5.7 million people in population beat out big countries like the US and China in terms of Winter Olympic medals? It's worth looking into, isn't it? For context, the United States has about 342 million people. China has over a billion.
Norway has 5.7 million. That's roughly the population of Minnesota. Yet in the 2026 Winter Games, Norway set a new historical record with 18 gold medals and 41 total podium finishes. They got 41 medals.
Yes, they easily topped the table with a US coming in at a distant second with 33 medals. The secret isn't that they have superhumans. Although sometimes it looks like it. People have looked into this over the years and there are a few reasons around efficiency and culture.
Is it true that people in Norway actually use skiing as one of the primary ways to get around? Yes, it is actually true in many places. You have to understand Norway is a very mountainous country. It's not just for fun on the weekends.
No, it's a lifestyle. There's a famous saying that Norwegians are born with skis on their feet. I read a story about an American who moved to Norway. He said he lost two inches off his waist just by walking to the grocery store because the hills were so steep and icy.
OK, so they have snow and they have the skills, but Norway is also a very wealthy country. I read that they are one of the richest nations on Earth. So if Norway is so rich, why have they not spent money into some of the more expensive sports like Bobsley and skeleton? That is a great catch.
The Norwegian philosophy is very practical. Bobsley and skeleton are incredibly expensive and more importantly, you can't really do them in your backyard. So Norway tends to focus on sports that everyone can do. Cross-country skiing requires a pair of skis and snow, which is free.
They want broad participation because the aim is to access the biggest talent pool possible. So they stick to sports that are accessible to the average kid. I also heard a rumor about how they run their youth leagues with children. Does Norway really ban competitive scoring and league standings for children under the age of 12?
This is pretty shocking to American parents, where we have travel teams and championships for kids like 8-year-olds. In Norway, up until age 11 or 12, they don't keep score. There are no league tables. There are no first place trophies.
Why does not caring about winning at a really young age actually create more world-class Olympic champions? Seems like a little bit counterintuitive. When you rank kids young, you're usually just rewarding the kids who hit puberty early. The biggest, strongest 10-year-old wins.
But that kid might not be the best athlete at age 20. By banning scores, Norway keeps the late bloomers in the game. They keep the tiny kid who loves skiing involved until he grows into his body. It means that there is less pressure to specialize too soon, and young athletes are encouraged to try out multiple sports.
So by the time they turn 13 and competition starts, Norway has a massive pool of athletes who still love the sport, rather than a small group of burnt-out kids. The starting sport later in life actually prevents athletes from burning out too early. It really depends on the individual athlete and kid of course. But yeah, there's research that shows that playing multiple sports develops better overall motor skills.
Plus, if you don't treat sports like a job when you're 9, you're still hungry for success when you're 18. This approach prevents burnout. We've actually seen this play out with a number of athletes at the Winter Olympics. And it seems like a broader societal level.
Norway has also succeeded in getting most of their population to be active. I read that it's something like 93% of the population is involved in organized sports. That statistic is mind-blowing, isn't it? 93% of the population grows up in organized sports.
It's because sports clubs in Norway are the center of the community. It's not just about training. It's where you hang out with your friends. So if Norway dominates on the snow and ice, why do they struggle so much in a sport like ice hockey?
Ah, yes. The one gap in the armor. Despite all this success, Norway has zero Olympic medals for ice hockey. And so why is this the case?
It comes down to geography again. Sweden and Finland are flatter with lots of lakes that freeze into perfect ice rings. Norway is full of steep mountains. You can't play hockey on a 45-degree slope.
And there was one single Norwegian athlete who won more gold medals than actually many entire countries. You are talking about the legend, Johannes Hoseflog Klebo. In the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, Klebo became the first athlete in history to win six gold medals at a single winter games. It's partly because cross-country skiing has so many different formats.
There's sprints, team sprints, relays, and distance events. So a dominant athlete like Klebo can rack up the medal count. He's single-handedly out-medaled huge nations. And finally, one of the sports at the Winter Olympics, the Biaflon, it's the sport where you ski and then shoot a gun.
It's a very interesting combination. Is it true that it was invented as a former 19th-century military defense training? Yes, this is one of my favorite facts. Biaflon seems so random, skiing fast, stopping, and shooting a rifle at a tiny target.
But it comes from Norway's history of national defense. In the 19th century, the Biaflon wasn't a sport. It was military training. If you were a soldier in Norway, you needed to move fast over snow and shoot accurately to defend the country.
It eventually evolved into a sport. But that deep-seeded cultural history is why they are so good at it. Thanks Kevin. Did you learn something new?
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