Visualizing Winter Olympics All-Time Gold Medals

Visualizing Winter Olympics All-Time Gold Medals

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

Across Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, athletes will compete for gold in 116 events, including skiing, bobsleigh, and figure skating. Ski mountaineering, also known as “Skimo” will mark its first year as an Olympic discipline, an event where skiers climb up the mountain then race downhill across a designated course.

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

Top 20 Countries in Winter Olympic Sports

Below, we show the top 20 countries by all-time gold medals at the Winter Olympics:

Rank	Country	All-Time Gold Medal Count
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	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

As of July 5, 2024

Norway leads with 148 gold medals overall, dominating in cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and biathlon.

Not only that, the top three most decorated Winter Olympians in history are all from Norway. With 15 medals, including eight gold, cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen ranks first overall. Across all Olympic medalists, Bjørgen is the third-most decorated, falling after Michael Phelps and Larisa Latynina.

Ranking in second is the U.S., winning 114 gold medals. In terms of overall medal count, America is the leading country in figure skating and snowboarding, with 51 and 31 medals in each sport, respectively. Michelle Kwan stands as one of the most successful U.S. Olympic skaters, with two Olympic medals and a total of 43 championships.

As the third-top country at the Winter Olympics, Germany is known for its achievements in bobsleigh, biathlon, and luge in addition to notable success in speed skating. Overall, the country falls closely behind the U.S., with 104 gold medals.

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that Nordic countries, including Sweden and Finland excel at the winter Olympics. Other colder nations, like Russia and Canada, also fall in the top 10 overall. More broadly, 15 of the top 20 countries by gold medals in Winter Olympic sports are European or former European countries (like East Germany).

Across Asia, three countries—China, Japan, and South Korea—have achieved the strongest performance, mirroring a trend seen in the Summer Olympic Games.

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