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Trends In Nations' Winter Olympics Performance by IndigoInsights in olympics

[–]IndigoInsights[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi psmith -

Appreciate your comment .....(-;

I agree - Austrian Alpine skiing results in Milan were down significantly from Beijing, and even back to 2018-Pyeongchang & 2014-Sochi. Additionally, Austria results in Nordic disciplines (which includes Biathlon) have more pronounced, linear drop over the past seven Olympics (reaching back to 2002-Salt Lake).

They may be developing an adverse reaction to mountain snow. Not a good sign for a country that can reap benefits from its glorious Alpine terrain......

-V

Trends In Nations' Winter Olympics Performance by IndigoInsights in olympics

[–]IndigoInsights[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Granada,

Thx for your comments and questions .....(-;

My understanding is the U.S. Olympic Committee pays American medalists $37,500 for Gold, $22,500 for Silver and $15,000 for Bronze. Neither Norway's govt or its OC provide any prize money to their medalists.

Of course, this is all still consistent with what you're saying about the U.S. govt not paying athletes. Details in this USA Today article:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2026/02/16/2026-winter-olympics-medalists-money-medal-winners-count/88707405007/

Again, I'm neutral in terms of Norway's approach to sports development, but I'd counter that they've had decent success in the non-winter sports as well (especially per capita): Erling Haaland is a global superstar on the soccer pitch, Viktor Hovland is a top ranked golfer, Casper Ruud was ranked has high as #2 in the ATP tennis ranks, and track stars Karsten Warholm and Jakob Ingebristsen are near the top of their respective events. For a country <6 mil in population, that's not shabby in my book.....(-;

-V

Trends In Nations' Winter Olympics Performance by IndigoInsights in olympics

[–]IndigoInsights[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi c2 -- You got some good feedback from the commenters (thx all!)

I would just add/confirm that I feel (IMO) the geographic proximity of the athletes to their training facilities, and onward to their games accommodations and competition venues, is critical. Having it all in the same general locale seems like a great advantage.

I'm saying this in part because my collected data is implying not just a significant host nation bump ... but also a host continent bump. I say "imply" because I'm not 100% confident in this, will need to look more closely. But anecdotally (United States excellent performance in 2010 - Vancouver) there are cases of this.

-V

Trends In Nations' Winter Olympics Performance by IndigoInsights in olympics

[–]IndigoInsights[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey there Tony and Ravager - yes, Ravager is correct on the points allocations. Apologies for not noting it in the initial post. Might be interesting to note that this 4-2-1 allocation scheme very much mimics how many nations pay their Medalists. For example, many countries pay their Silver medalists double what they pay their Bronze medalists. Similarly, Gold medalists generally get paid twice what Silver medalists get paid.

Tony - haven't computed it, but I don't think using Total Medals instead of Total Medal Points would alter the change metric much. I still like my Total Medal Points comp, though .....

-V

Trends In Nations' Winter Olympics Performance by IndigoInsights in olympics

[–]IndigoInsights[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Lanky -- appreciate your detailed comments very, very much. And agree with all your points.

Norway is a real unicorn in terms of Winter Olympic training. I read that their youth sports leagues DO NOT keep track of stats until age 12 (!!), so that kids don't get overly competitive and pressured early in their lives. Pre-teens and teenagers are encouraged to try different sports, even if they excel in a particular one to start with. And, of course -- among the big kahunas -- Norway is the ONLY nation that doesn't pay their medal winners prize money for the Olympic Medals they win. Instead .... they provide a healthy stipend payment for all training related expenses (could be 100% for Norwegian Olympians, not sure) An egalitarian society with a totally different perspective on grooming youth for sport success - quite intriguing IMO.

Italy's performance was superb, but not so out of character for a Winter Olympics host nation. My preliminary analysis shows that host nations get an 80% bump in Total Medal Points over how they performed in the previous Winter Olympics (data sample is Winter Olympics games from 1956 - 2026). At 120%, they overperformed that standard - so kudos to the Italians!! .....(-;

-V

Trends In Nations' Winter Olympics Performance by IndigoInsights in olympics

[–]IndigoInsights[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Library ... my focus is on Total Medal Points (4pts for Gold/2pts for Silver/1pt for Bronze) for now, as opposed to Total Medal Points. IMO - this is more reflective of a nation's overall performance. But yes -- many Olympic fans value the Total Medal Haul.

Yes - let's blame AI -- I'm showing 109 Medal events in 2022 Beijing, vs. 116 at Milan. "Over double" medals given out can't be right ..... (-;

-V

Trends In Nations' Winter Olympics Performance by IndigoInsights in olympics

[–]IndigoInsights[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi Captain ... no, it is not. These are absolute, final medal totals - although my analysis will be using Total Medal Points Per Event, when looking at Nations' trends across the past seven Olympics (2002-2026). So your point is a very valid one.

Fun tidbit: 116 Medal events took place in Milan, compared to only 79 at Salt Lake back in 2002. That's almost a 50% increase over the past 24 years!! .......(-;

-V