The 10 most fascinating facts about the all-time Winter Olympics medal standings | For The Win
The 10 most fascinating facts about the all-time Winter Olympics medal standings
The 10 most fascinating facts about the all-time Winter Olympics medal standings
By Chris Chase February 7, 2014 11:08 am Follow     @firechrischase
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Ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, For The Win looks back at the all-time Winter Olympic medal count to find some of the strange, interesting and notable facts from 90 years of Winter Games history.
1. The Soviet Union is still third on the all-time medal count.
Despite not having competed in a Winter Olympics since the 1988 Games in Calgary, the old USSR is still No. 3 in gold medals and No. 4 in overall medals.
2. Norway has more gold medals than 100 countries have total medals.
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
The Norwegians have a record 107 golds in Winter Olympics competition. Only nine countries (United States, USSR, Austria, Germany, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and East Germany) have won more total medals in the Winter Games. Though the tiny Scandinavian country won five of the first six medal counts, but only two of the past 15, it still has a stranglehold atop the count that its unlikely to give up in the next few decades.
3. We’re No. 2!
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Americans are No. 2 in golds and silvers (behind Norway) and No. 3 in bronze medals (behind Norway and Austria). Overall, the U.S. is No. 2 in the medal count behind the Norwegians.
4. The United States is the king  (and queen) of speedskating and figure skating.
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U.S. athletes have won the most medals in both those sports, as well as newer disciplines like freestyle skiing, snowboarding and skeleton.
5. Biathlon isn’t as kind to Americans.
(Reuters)
That’s the only sport in which an American athlete has never medaled. The U.S. only has one medal in cross country, ski jumping and curling.
6. Norwegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie is the Michael Phelps of the Winter Games.
Daehlie competes in Nagano. (AP)
Dæhlie won eight golds and 12 overall medals in his three Olympics, both of which are most in Winter Olympic history. Cross country and biathlon participants dominate the list of top individual medalists. Only Norwegian alpine skier Kjetil Andre Aamodt breaks the endurance skiing stronghold on the top 10.
7. Apolo Anton Ohno is also the Michael Phelps of the Winter Games.
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If we’re going by American athletes dominating a Games, the short track speedskater gets the nod. His eight medals (two gold, two silver, four bronze) are the most for any U.S. athlete and ranks him No. 15 overall. Bonnie Blair’s six medals are second amongst Americans. Bode Miller is tied for third with five overall medals, a total he could add to in Sochi.
8. Which three countries are better in Winter than Summer?
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Given that there are more medals to win at Summer Olympics than Winter Olympics (there were 302 medal events in London compared to 98 in Sochi), most countries have won far more medals in the summer. The U.S., for instance, has 2,400 Summer Olympics medals compared to 253 Winter Olympics medals. Only three countries buck that trend: Norway (303 winter, 148 summer); Austria (201 winter, 86 summer) and, you guessed it, Liechtenstein (9 winter, 0 summer).
9. Norway gets bang for its buck.
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
Norway is a nation of 5 million people, about the same as the population of Alabama. Per capita, the nation has won one Winter Olympic medal for every 16,556 residents. The United States, on the other hand, has one medal for every 1,237,154 residents.
10. Speaking of states, New York leads the U.S. medal count.
(AP)
Athletes from New York have won 23 gold medals overall, the most for any state. Minnesota (22) and Massachusetts (16) round out the top three. (Gold medals for hockey players  make up a large portion of these totals). Surprisingly, Colorado has only produced one Winter Olympic gold medalist, according to this AOL tally . That’s the same as Alabama, New Mexico and Nevada.