Norway's director of elite sport sounded a little hoarse when he answered the phone to CNN Sports. Tore Øvebrø said he had just caught a cold, but he admitted that his raspy voice might also have something to do with his cheering over the last two weeks.
“It didn’t help,” he chuckled a few days ago. “I had to cheer just now because we’ve just won another gold in the Nordic Combined. We have 16, that’s the Olympic record, and we hope for a couple more. So, it’s fantastic!” Of course, the Games weren’t done then. Norway ended Milan Cortina 2026 with a record 18 golds – and 41 total medals.It’s now an indisputable fact: Nobody can touch Norway at the Winter Olympics. From 2018 in Pyeongchang through the Italian Games in 2026, the Norwegians have always come out on top. A tiny nation of roughly five-and-a-half million people – about the same as the US state of South Carolina – has figured out how to keep beating countries like China (1.4 billion), the US (342 million), Germany (84 million), Italy (59 million) and Canada (40 million). Clearly, they’re doing something right, and perhaps some of their rival nations like the US could learn a thing or two from the Nordic champions. It might come as no surprise that a Nordic country would excel in winter sports, but the truth is that Norway has been punching well above its weight in many sports for some time. Norway has recently produced Olympic champions in beach volleyball and several in track and field—two quintessentially summer sports.Their triathlon program is celebrated as the best in the world, Viktor Hovland is one of the top golfers, Casper Ruud made it to world No. 2 in the ATP rankings, Erling Haaland is one of the most feared strikers in the “Beautiful Game” and Ada Hegerberg won the most prestigious individual honor in world soccer, the Ballon D’Or. There are many reasons for Norway’s success, but there is one common theme: an emphasis on fun and enjoyment that starts at the grassroots level. Until the age of 12 in Norway, nobody in youth sports is allowed to keep score, and there are no league standings either. As a result, there is far less destructive pressure and no reason to specialize too soon, and young athletes are encouraged to try out multiple sports. If one player gets a trophy, everyone gets a trophy; they want as many children as possible to return the following season.
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