From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles




It's interesting that the biggest controversy in this Winter Olympics was
the Canadian man cheating and Cursing --- "You can Fu**ck off"

(Penisgate, Memorial Helmet, ......)


___________________

For the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Ben Blatt authored a major data-driven feature for [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/upshot/winter-olympics-leaders-nations.html) titled "Who Won the Winter Olympics? We (Over) Analyzed the Medal Standings." [1, 2, 3]

His analysis moves beyond the traditional gold-medal tally to offer alternative perspectives on national performance:


_______________Key Analytical Findings

* The "Ice vs. Snow" Divide: Blatt noted that while Norway dominated the games overall with a record 18 gold medals, they only won a single event held on an ice rink.

* Judged vs. Timed Events: He highlighted that Japan performed best in events determined by judges (such as figure skating and halfpipe snowboarding), whereas Norway's strength was almost entirely in timed racing events.

* Latitude Impact: His data showed that Norway won more medals than all 100+ nations located between 45 degrees north and 45 degrees south latitude combined.

* Alternative Counting Methods: Blatt explored several "what-if" scenarios, such as adjusting medal counts for population size or counting the total number of individual athletes receiving medals (which benefits nations like the U.S. and Canada due to team sports like hockey). [1, 4]

Final Official Medal Standings (Top 5)

| Country [5] | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 18 | 12 | 11 | 41 |
| United States | 12 | 12 | 9 | 33 |
| Italy | 10 | 6 | 14 | 30 |
| Germany | 8 | 10 | 8 | 26 |
| Japan | 5 | 7 | 12 | 24 |

[6, 7]


Would you like to see how the standings change when adjusted for population or GDP, or are you interested in a specific sport's data?

[1] [https://www.nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/upshot/winter-olympics-leaders-nations.html)
[2] [https://www.nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/upshot/winter-olympics-leaders-nations.html)
[3] [https://www.nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/by/ben-blatt?page=2)
[4] [https://www.nytimes.com](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/interactive/2026-winter-olympics-medal-results/#:~:text=Table_title:%202026%20Winter%20Olympics%20medal%20count%20Table_content:,individual%20Snowboarding%20Women%27s%20halfpipe%20Figure%20skating%20%7C)
[5] [https://www.theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/22/winter-olympics-2026-medal-table-standings-norway#:~:text=Norway%20has%20once%20again%20topped%20the%20Winter,categories%20%2812%20golds%20and%2033%20total%20medals%29.)
[6] [https://www.nbc.com](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/what-country-has-most-medals-at-2026-winter-olympics-medal-count#:~:text=The%20full%202026%20Winter%20Olympics%20medal%20count,%281%20silver%29%20*%20Belgium:%201%20%281%20bronze%29)
[7] [https://support.google.com](https://support.google.com/knowledgepanel/answer/9787176)
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