Olympic Medal Count: Norway’s Record 18 Golds Seal Top Spot as Milano-Cortina Ends
New tallies completed at the Verona Arena final now settle the olympic medal count for Milano-Cortina: Norway finished with 18 golds and 41 total medals, placing it ahead of the United States. The timing matters because those final numbers, announced as the Games closed, rewrite earlier mid-Games standings and underline how individual champions shifted outcomes across the schedule.
Olympic Medal Count at the Verona Arena
The closing ceremony at the Verona Arena marked the end of competition and the posting of final medal totals: Norway led with 18 gold medals and 41 medals overall, while the United States finished second in both categories with 12 golds and 33 total medals. Earlier in the meeting of events, mid-Games tallies had shown a different picture: one update had Norway with 15 golds and 32 total medals and Team USA with 24 medals, seven of them gold, and in third place by total medals. That mid-Games snapshot reflected the standings before later events and helps explain the divergence between interim and final counts.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s six golds
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was central to Norway’s surge: he claimed six gold medals, a contribution that exceeded the gold tally of all but seven other countries at these Games. His string of victories directly caused a significant portion of Norway’s record 18 golds, making that national total the most by any country in Winter Olympics history.
Team USA: Breezy Johnson, Ilia Malinin, Jordan Stolz and medal shifts
American athletes produced several defining moments that shaped the standings. Breezy Johnson won gold in the women’s downhill on Feb. 8, becoming only the second American woman to win that event; it was the first Olympic medal of her career and was the first gold for the American team at these Games, and she said at the podium, "it doesn’t feel real yet. " That same day the figure skating team event swung in the United States’ favor when Ilia Malinin stepped onto the ice with the gold hanging on his performance and delivered 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 en route to gold in the men’s 1, 000 meters and then, on Saturday, captured a second gold, setting another Olympic record. Those individual achievements pushed the American medal totals through the closing stages of competition.
Italy, the Netherlands and smaller nations’ performance
Host nation Italy finished with 10 golds among its 25 medals in the final accounting, matching the Netherlands’ 10 golds despite the Netherlands’ smaller population. The Games highlighted how nations with modest populations or less extensive winter-sports traditions punched above their weight: Norway has about 5. 7 million people compared with countries such as the United States at roughly 342 million, China at about 1. 4 billion, Germany at 84 million, Italy at 59 million and Canada at 40 million. What makes this notable is the gap between population and podium returns—Norway’s concentration of elite performers produced outsized results. Great Britain enjoyed its best Winter Olympics haul with three golds, a silver and a bronze; Australia matched that improvement with three golds, two silvers and a bronze.
Closing ceremony: Rigoletto, Achille, Diplo, Major Lazer and fan reactions
The finale combined opera, dance and pop: the arena saw a theatrical Rigoletto presence described as packing the venue away, an Italian performer named Achille singing a number identified as "Amor, " and appearances from international DJs and acts. Diplo was filmed in the crowd, and Major Lazer performed late in the program. A TNT commentator observed, "This is music they play at the gym, that is the genre, " endorsing the choice for the party segment. Commentary on national displays during anthems drew some pushback; one reader identified as JJ questioned why many in the crowd remained seated during the French anthem, with the remainder of that remark unclear in the provided context. The closing host offered thanks to viewers and closed with a Buona Notte as Milano-Cortina was declared officially over.
Isabel Yip is noted in the event record as a news associate.
