Born to ski: Experts and fans say Norway owes Olympic dominance to tradition, depth and development
TESERO, Italy (AP) — Outside the Olympic cross-country stadium in the Dolomite mountains, Norwegian flags drape over the railings like bunting on a national holiday.
Fans from the Scandinavian country have set up camp nearby and keep a live tally of medals won by their athletes at the Milan Cortina Games. After every victory, a gold sticker is pressed onto the board.
There have been plenty to add: Norway leads the medals table with 33 — 15 gold, eight silver and 10 bronze. And its dominance has raised a familiar question: What makes Norway, a nation of 5.6 million people, such a superpower on the snow at the world’s biggest winter sports event?
The country’s Olympic arsenal this year is led by Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, a cross-country skier and gold medal machine. He has won five gold medals at the Milan Cortina Games to take his career tally to a Winter Games record of 10.
Klaebo earned his fifth gold on Wednesday in the men’s team sprint. He held off a late American charge to win in 18 minutes, 28.9 seconds.
The 29-year-old Klaebo, who is competing at his third Olympics, said the collective experience his team has built up is the key to winning races.
“In a team sprint, a lot of it is about staying in front and skiing as efficiently as possible. We know from experience that it’s usually decided on the final lap,” Klaebo said.
“Luckily, I’ve been in that position a few times now, and I feel comfortable there,” he said. “We just needed to enjoy it and stay in the mix — and when it came down to the final sprint, that’s when it mattered. Today, that worked out perfectly.”
Many believe Klaebo’s remarkable golden run is a product of a system that has few equals in winter sports.
Katerina Neumannova, a retired Czech Olympic champion, points to Norway’s structure as the foundation of its success. Cross-country skiing is among the country’s most popular sports, with hundreds of clubs and large numbers of kids starting young.
“When you have so many children, so many trainers and so many clubs all around Norway, it’s much easier to find special talent,” Neumannova told The Associated Press.
Norway, she said, has benefitted from the absence of the banned Russian team as well as having a concentration of talented team officials supporting athletes, and even the lack of snow in lower latitudes affecting mainland Europe.
And its depth of public participation, she argued, provides a steady supply of elite competitors.
“Other countries usually have some gaps between generations, but the Norwegian team is very stable,” Neumannova said. “When one athlete ends, younger ones are already coming up.”
Klaebo’s race partner on Wednesday was Einar Hedegart, a 24-year-old Olympic rookie who shared gold in an earlier relay event and won bronze in the 10-kilometer interval start.
“There’s definitely some pressure that comes with racing alongside Johannes, so it’s both a relief and a joy to pull off here today,” Hedegart said after Wednesday’s race.
“To win two gold medals in my first (Olympic) championship is huge,” he said. “It’s an incredibly good feeling.”
A lot Norway’s supremacy stems from tradition as the cradle of Nordic skiing.
Ten medals — six of them gold — come from cross‑country, and another nine from biathlon. Ski jumper Anna Odine Stroem swept both the normal and large hills, and added a silver in the mixed team event. Jens Luraas Oftebro took both Nordic combined titles.
The medals don’t stop there: Norway struck twice in freestyle skiing, picked up two in Alpine skiing, and completed the speedskating set with a gold, silver and bronze.
Finn Dahl, a superfan who did marketing for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics at home in Norway, attributed his country’s success to a way of life that revolves around snow.
Children, he said, often take trips with their families to the mountains, where skiing is just the normal way of getting around.
“It’s a natural way of sort of moving from one cabin to another,” Dahl said. “It’s a spirit, it is inside you.”
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics