Winter Olympics gold medal rankings thrown into chaos! USA jumps to second place, China climbs again with 3 golds, Japan loses gold in figure skating

On February 20th Beijing time, the 13th day of the Milan Winter Olympics concluded. Six gold medals were distributed among the USA, Norway, China, Switzerland, and Spain. This caused a major reshuffle in the gold medal rankings. Norway secured one gold that day, holding a dominant 16 gold total to stay first. The USA’s two golds pushed them ahead of Italy into second place, with Italy slipping to third. Switzerland’s single gold brought them to six total, moving up to seventh. Japan’s women’s singles figure skating lost gold and remained sixth and ninth respectively. China’s one gold that day raised their total to three, jumping to 12th place. Spain won one gold breaking their medal drought and claimed their first gold, rising to 18th place!

Norway continued to dominate on the 13th day of competition, capturing gold in the Nordic combined men’s team large hill / cross-country skiing 4×5 km relay. Their total gold count reached 16, further solidifying their lead in first place. With 34 total medals, they are seven golds ahead of second-place USA, making it very likely they will finish as the overall top nation. This marks Norway’s 13th consecutive day leading the medal table, truly earning their title as the top winter sports powerhouse!

The USA team had a breakout performance on the 13th day, winning two gold medals: the women’s singles figure skating and the women’s ice hockey gold. The women’s singles figure skating gold was a surprising upset over the previous bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto. With these two golds, the USA overtook host nation Italy to move into second place in the gold medal standings and also surpassed Italy in total medals, firmly establishing themselves as the clear second-ranked country. Overall, the USA’s hold on second place looks secure!

Switzerland earned a gold in the women’s ski mountaineering sprint event, bringing their total to six golds and climbing to seventh place. Spain won gold in the men’s ski mountaineering sprint, claiming their first gold of the games and ending a 12-day gold medal drought, moving up to 18th place!

China started this Winter Olympics slowly, going 11 days without a gold. However, on the 12th day, which coincided with the Lunar New Year’s second day, they won two golds. On the 13th day, they kept the momentum going by winning another gold from Ning Zhongyan in the men’s 1500m speed skating, breaking the Olympic record and defeating the American champion. Nothing could be more thrilling than this highly valuable gold medal. This means China achieved an impressive three golds over two days, soaring 7 places in the medal rankings from 19th to 12th. There are still three gold medal opportunities ahead, with the biggest questions being whether China can surpass Japan to become Asia’s top country and break into the top ten overall. Keep it up!

Written by / Sports Novel,