February 18, (THEWILL) – Norway, the medal table leaders in Beijing, demonstrated their dominance at the Winter Olympics by earning a record 15th gold medal in a single Games.
With a win in the 15km mass start, Johannes Thingnes Boe won his fourth Beijing title, giving Norway the unassailable lead in the gold medal haul in one competition.
So far for the Norwegians, Biathlon accounts for six of the 15 gold medals, while Boe and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland – who has three golds – have contributed to all of them, including teaming up in the mixed relay.
“That’s something to remember, even though we’ll probably get one more during this weekend,” Boe enthused. “I was thinking about this on the last lap, it’s cool to be the guy that does the 15th gold.”
Cross-country skiing, which included Therese Johaug and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, as well as Nordic combined, ski jumping, speed skating, and Birk Ruud in freestyle skiing’s big air, brought in more medals.
“There are quite a few reasons why we’re a superpower in the winter sports. It has something to do with the format of the competitions,” said Norway’s chef de mission Tore Oevreboe before they achieved the 15th.
“We’re good at sports with many events that make it possible to take many medals, If you’re good at those sports and have quite a few athletes that are at a top level in those sports.
“At the top level, we are very, very professional. We have very professional national teams and we are working closely together with the national teams, working across the sports, so they learn from each other.”
The new record surpasses the old one of 14, which Germany and Norway tied for in Pyeongchang after Canada took the lead in Vancouver 2010. However, Canada’s 14 gold medals in 2010 came at a time when there were only 86 medal events, compared to 109 gold chances in Beijing. In Pyeongchang, there were 103 medal events.
With Klaebo and Johaug still competing in mass start events, Norway has a chance to add to their gold medal tally.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
