Visualizing the Winter Olympics, the gold medals of all time

Visualizing the Winter Olympics, the gold medals of all time

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For the first time, the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in two cities and two provinces.

In Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, athletes will compete for gold in 116 events, including skiing, bobsledding and figure skating. Ski mountaineering, also known as “Skimo”, is celebrating its first year as an Olympic discipline, an event in which skiers climb up a mountain and then race down a designated course.

This graph shows the countries with the most gold medals in Olympic winter sports, based on data from the International Olympic Committee.

Top 20 Countries in Winter Olympics

Below are the top 20 countries with the most gold medals of all time at the Winter Olympics:

Rank	Country	Number of gold medals of all time
1	Norway	148
2	United States	114
3	Germany	104
4	☭ Soviet Union	78
5	Canada	77
6	Austria	71
7	Sweden	65
8	Switzerland	63
9	The Netherlands	53
10	Russia	47
11	Finland	45
12	Italy	42
13	France	41
14	East Germany	39
15	South Korea	33
16	China	22
17	Japan	17
18	Great Britain	12
19	West Germany	11
20	Czech Republic	10

From July 5, 2024

Norway is in the lead with a total of 148 gold medals and dominates the disciplines of cross-country skiing, ski jumping and biathlon.

Furthermore, the three most decorated Winter Olympics in history are all from Norway. With 15 medals, including eight gold, cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen is in first place. Of all Olympic medal winners, Bjørgen is the third most decorated, after Michael Phelps and Larisa Latynina.

In second place is the USand won 114 gold medals. In terms of total medal count, America is the leading country in figure skating and snowboarding, with 51 and 31 medals in both sports, respectively. Michelle Kwan is one of the most successful American Olympic skaters, with two Olympic medals and a total of 43 championships.

As the third country at the Winter Olympics, Germany is known for its achievements in bobsledding, biathlon and luge, as well as notable successes in speed skating. Overall, the country trails the U.S., with 104 gold medals.

It may come as no surprise that Scandinavian countries, including Sweden and Finland, excel at the Winter Olympics. Other colder countries, such as Russia and Canada, also feature in the top 10. More generally, 15 of the top 20 countries in terms of gold medals at the Winter Olympics are European or former European countries (such as East Germany).

In Asia, three countries – China, Japan and South Korea – delivered the strongest performances, mirroring the trend seen at the Summer Olympics.

The post Visualizing the All-Time Winter Olympic Gold Medals appeared first on Visual Capitalist.