Winter Olympics gold medal standings shaken up: Norway blasts 18 golds, four teams surpass double digits, Japan leads Asia, China outperforms South Korea

By February 22 Beijing time, the second to last competition day of the Milan Winter Olympics has ended. Let’s take a look at the latest medal standings update: Norway, the winter sports leader, keeps surging ahead with a haul of 18 golds and 40 medals, firmly holding first place in both counts. The USA follows with 11 golds and 32 medals in second, the Netherlands has 10 golds and 20 medals in third, host Italy holds fourth with 10 golds and 30 medals. Japan tops Asia with 5 golds and 24 medals, while China’s 4 golds outpace South Korea’s 3!

Thanks to its unique geographical advantages and long winters, Norway is perfectly suited for winter sports, giving it strong gold medal potential in cross-country skiing, biathlon, and Nordic combined events. With only 5 golds left on the final day and Norway already having won 18—7 more than second-place USA—Norway has secured both the gold and overall medal tallies in advance, marking their fourth consecutive Olympic crown. Their dominance is incredible, and besides their own strength, Russia’s absence has also played a notable role in this achievement!

The gap between the USA, the Netherlands, and Italy is just one gold medal, a very narrow margin. Since neither the Netherlands nor Italy have gold medal prospects on the final day, while the USA still contends for the men’s ice hockey gold, securing second place should be straightforward. Recall that the USA also finished second in the previous Winter Olympics!

Because we fell short in the mixed team freestyle aerials event, Japan is essentially the top Asian nation. This is mainly due to not winning any golds in short track speed skating. Although our short track results are the worst ever with no golds, we still clearly outperform South Korea. Currently, Japan has 5 golds, China 4, and South Korea 3, showing a clear downward trend among them!

Up to now, the overall medal standings have basically settled. Norway has secured first place in both golds and total medals. Four countries have won double-digit golds: Norway, USA, Netherlands, and Italy. A total of 20 countries have earned gold medals, 29 countries have won any medals, and 11 countries have claimed at least 5 golds. Today is the final day of the Winter Olympics with only 5 golds left to be decided. Who will claim them? Let’s wait and see!

Written by / Sports Novel