Norway RULES the Winter Olympics. In 2018, they had the most medals.
- Norway 39 medals (14 gold, 14 silver, 11 bronze)
- Germany 31 medals (14 gold, 10 silver, 7 bronze)
- Canada 29 medals (11 gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze)
Norway holds the most Winter Olympic medals of ALL-TIME.
Norway has the most 1st place finishes of all the Winter Olympics.
| Country | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Soviet Union | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Germany | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Russia | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| United States | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| East Germany | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Canada | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Austria | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Finland | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Unified Team | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| France | 0 | 0 | 1 |
When we think of Winter Olympics, the first country that should come to mind—NORWAY.
Who is the best Olympic athlete to come from Norway? A biathlete named Ole Einar Bjørndalen. Brittanica says, his 13 Olympic Games medals are the most for any male Winter Olympian and who is widely considered the greatest biathlete of all time.
To get hyped up for the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, I put on the Olympic Theme song on Spotify.
After playing the Olympic Theme, Spotify started to play Yankee Doodle Dandy. Gahhhh! so AMERICAN. Olympics are about the WORLD, not USA.
On the night of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, if I listen to the Olympic theme song, Spotify should NOT be playing Yankee Doodle Dandy as the next song. Spotify should play something more appropriate for the Winter Olympics. Like the Norway national anthem.
Here’s the best version of the Norway national anthem on Spotify:
How is it the best? BECAUSE IT HAS THE WORDS. I listened to the top 40 Spotify results for: Norway national anthem. Only one song has the words. Yes. Only one of the 40 songs has the words. The rest are just the music. Crazy.
I’m most likely a stupid American, because this song sounds like a mashup between the American national anthem and a Christmas song.
Titled, “Ja, vi elsker dette landet”, it translates into English as “Yes, we love this country”. What are the lyrics for the Norway national anthem? I’m glad you asked. Wikipedia provides them:
| Original | Literal translation |
|---|---|
| Ja, vi elsker dette landet, som det stiger frem, furet, værbitt over vannet med de tusen hjem, — elsker, elsker det og tenker på vår far og mor og den saganatt som senker drømmer på vår jord. | Yes, we love this country as it rises forth, rugged, weathered, over the water, with the thousands of homes, — love, love it and think of our father and mother and the saga-night that lays dreams upon our earth. |
The song has eight verses. I’ll spare pasting all eight verses here. Although it does have lines like
Farmers their axes sharpened whenever an army advanced
and
Even women stood up and fought as if they were men;
others could only cry but that soon would end!
Um. Yeah. Don’t mess with Norway.
This is thoughtful, insightful and hilarious!
Thanks, Tom! I would really like broadcasts to put more emphasis on countries other than America. The first step might be really emphasizing the storyline that Norway completely dominates the Winter Olympics. Norway! Norway! Everyone should know who is historically the #1 country in the Winter Olympics. It should be like a complete automatic reaction. Why, it’s Norway, of course!