Olympic Medal Count: Norway tops the table as Verona Arena hosts closing ceremony

With the closing ceremony under way at Verona Arena, the olympic medal count shows Norway at the top of the Winter Games table and a series of standout individual performances altering national tallies as the Games conclude.

Olympic Medal Count: Norway leads with historic golds

Coverage from the closing ceremony notes Norway has beaten the United States to top the medal table. One tally lists Norway with 18 golds and 41 total medals, more than the US, which is listed with 12 golds and 33 total medals; another tally in the coverage places Norway at 15 golds and 32 total medals and the US with 7 golds and 24 total medals, a discrepancy in the counts within the available coverage.

The larger tally credits Norway’s cross-country star Johannes Høsflot Klæbo with six gold medals on his own, and says Norway’s 18 golds are the most by a country in Winter Olympics history. Norway’s population is given as about 5. 7m, and the coverage highlights that the nation outperformed larger winter-sports powers listed with their populations: the US (342m), China (1. 4bn), Germany (84m), Italy (59m) and Canada (40m).

Klæbo’s six golds and other national hauls

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s six golds are singled out as a crucial contribution to Norway’s place at the top. The Netherlands is noted to have finished with 10 golds — the same number attributed to host nation Italy in one tally — despite a population around 18m.

Smaller or less traditionally winter-focused nations also had landmark Games: Great Britain enjoyed its best-ever Winter Olympics haul with three golds, a silver and a bronze, and Australia matched a best-ever performance with three golds, two silvers and a bronze.

American milestones and standout U. S. events

Separate coverage lists Team USA with 24 medals and seven golds, placing the American team third in total medals. Key American moments include Breezy Johnson’s gold in the women’s downhill skiing on Feb. 8 — identified as only the second American woman to win that event, the first Olympic medal of her career, and Team USA’s first gold of these Games; after her podium appearance she said, “it doesn’t feel real yet. ”

The figure skating team event on Feb. 8 produced Team USA’s second medal when Ilia Malinin, nicknamed the “Quad God, ” delivered a performance that earned the United States enough points to defeat Japan. On Feb. 11, 20-year-old Elizabeth Lemley won gold in her Olympic debut in women’s moguls while teammate Jaelin Kauf took silver. Speedskater Jordan Stolz set an Olympic record to win gold in the men’s 1, 000 meters and then won a second gold on Saturday, setting another Olympic record.

Ceremony moments, anthems and other on-site highlights

The closing ceremony coverage at Verona Arena includes lighter, ceremony-focused moments: the president of the IOC is quoted saying, “Thanks for sharing the best of Italy with the world, ” and the same coverage includes the president’s aside, “Mine’s a polpo and chips. ” At one point Anthem no. 1, 765 is the marseillaise as attention turns to the 2030 Games in the Alps.

Other on-the-ground notes from the ceremony include a reference to Ebba Anderson’s gold for Sweden in the women’s 50km skiing and an interpretive-dance segment described as representing the water cycle and the forming of snow and ice. A commentator named Pat highlighted his favourite moment as the last few jumps in the men’s big air final, praising the celebration among medal-winning athletes and the commentary work of Tim and Ed. A montage celebrating volunteers was followed by the song Blue (Da Ba Dee).

The coverage also includes a running sports aside: Niccolo Pisilli has put Roma 3-0 up while Kirsty Coventry finishes a speech, and Jamie Vardy is noted to have come on as a substitute in Rome with 10 minutes to go as Roma lead Cremonese 2-0.

What’s next after the Verona Arena ceremony

The closing ceremony at Verona Arena continues as the official conclusion to these Games, and the coverage closes with a look ahead to the 2030 Games in the Alps.

Isabel Yip is named in the available coverage as a news associate included in the reporting.