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Norway has once again topped the Winter Olympics medal table<\/a>, surpassing countries with far larger populations.<\/p>\n The Scandinavian country won more gold medals (18) and more total medals (41) than the US, who came second in both categories (12 golds and 33 total medals). Norway\u2019s 18 golds were the most by a country in Winter Olympics history, while their cross-country skiing hero Johannes H\u00f8sflot Kl\u00e6bo accounted for six golds on his own<\/a>, more than the all but seven other countries at this year\u2019s Games.<\/p>\n The achievements of Norway<\/a>, which has a population of about 5.7m, are all the more remarkable given that they outperformed winter-sports nations with far larger populations such as the US (342m), China (1.4bn), Germany (84m), Italy (59m) and Canada (40m). The Netherlands, which excels in speed skating, also punched above its weight, finishing with 10 golds \u2013 the same as host nation Italy \u2013 despite its relatively small population of around 18m.<\/p>\n It was also a good Olympics for countries with modest winter sports traditions. Great Britain enjoyed its best ever medal haul at a Winter Olympics<\/a> with three golds, a silver and a bronze, as did Australia (three golds, two silver and a bronze).<\/p>\n While the US finished in second place, the Americans\u2019 12 golds were the most at a Winter Olympics in the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Norway\u2019s success is nothing new. The Norwegians have won the most golds at every Winter Olympics since 2014 (they tied with Germany in 2018). It also has world class athletes in other areas such as Erling Haaland and Ada Hegerberg (football), Casper Ruud (tennis), Viktor Hovland (golf), Jakob Ingebrigtsen (athletics) and Solfrid Koanda (weightlifting).<\/p>\n While the country\u2019s climate and terrain play a part in its Winter Olympics success, other factors are at play. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capita, while sports and exercise are a large part of many Norwegians\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n