During the last two Winter Olympics, Norway did reset the records for: 1. total medals a single Winter Games (39) and 2. gold medals at a single Winter Games (16). Over the last month, Norway bettered those totals with 52 medals and 18 gold medals in Olympic program events across the world championships in Alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding and speed skating. Norway nearly became the first nation to win a world championships gold medal in every single traditional Winter Olympic snow sport discipline, in one year: it just missed in ski jumping, taking three silver and two bronze medals. These mind blowing results refuel and ignite the same concerns that have shadowed Norway’s streak of victories in recent years: is the country dominating some winter sports so thoroughly that it is actually ‘ruining’ them? This anxiety is strongest in cross-country skiing, the sport nationwide adored with a fervor that stretches back centuries: Norwegians fear lopsided results can demolish enthusiasm for this sport in countries that are constantly getting demolished.
Read more on Olympics.Nbcsports.com and on NYTimes.com
