How many medals has the US won in the history of Winter Olympics?

Unlike at the Summer Olympics, where Team USA holds a crushing advantage in the medal table over their nearest rivals, the Soviet Union and Great Britain, in the Winter Games medal stakes the United States plays second fiddle to the most successful nation of all time, Norway. The disparity in the number of golds the US has compared to the Soviet Union in the Summer Games can be explained by the number of participations of both nations – 28 for the US compared to just nine for the USSR (with Russia competing on six occasions since the Iron Curtain came down and sitting 12th in the all-time table).

Norway rule the roost at Winter Games

In the Winter Olympic, Norway and the US have both sent teams to the Games on 23 occasions, maintaining a presence at every Winter Olympics since the inaugural event in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

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Similarly, the quadrennial hegemony of the USA at the Summer Games – where they have topped the medal table at 18 different Olympic Games – in the Winter edition Team USA have only once gained the most golds at a Games, at Lake Placid in 1934 where the “home” team won six golds to Norway’s three.

At the 2022 Games in Beijing there were 327 medals up for grabs, with a Games record number of 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports. At the PyeongChang Olympics in 2018, Norway topped the table with a total of 39 medals (14 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze) while the USA had to make do with fourth place (nine gold, eight silver and six bronze) behind Canada and Germany.

Norway tops Beijing podium 2022

Norway once again were the team to beat as they topped the medals table for a second successive Winter Olympics with Germany in second place, and China third. The Norwegians, who won a record 39 medals in Pyeongchang, ended with 16 gold medals, eight silver and 13 bronze, a total haul of 37.

The key to Norway's dominance was their performances in cross-country skiing and biathlon, with 28 of the medals forecast to come in those sports.

Almost before Norway had time to digest losing double world champion Jarl Magnus Riiber to covid isolation, Joergen Graabak stepped up to become their new leader and emerge as the most successful Nordic combined athlete in Olympic history. Graabak signed off a memorable Games when he brought Norway home for a crushing victory in the relay to claim his fourth Olympic gold, as Espen Bjoernstad stepped in seamlessly to replace Riiber.

Graabak won two golds in Sochi in 2014 and had already secured the Beijing large hill title in thrilling fashion. He also took silver in the normal hill after another gripping finale, on that occasion being pipped to the line by Germany's Vinzenz Geiger, following his team silver in 2018.

Those two finishes in the 2022 individual races were among the highlights of the whole Winter Games.

The United States finish fourth in the table as they were predicted to do with a total of 25 medals. These were broken down into eight golds, one less than 2018, plus 10 silvers and seven bronzes, enough to reassert their ascendancy over Canada who ended the Games in 11th place. The Canadians won 11 events in Pyeongchang to finish above their North American neighbours.

Check out the full and final table for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.