Norway Are the Bookies Winter Olympics Gold Medal Favourites

by Roy Brindley, 19 December 2025

Can Norway justify favouritism and top the Winter Olympics medal table for a fourth consecutive Games?

Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern are two of Team USA’s gold medal hopes. © Getty Images

Key Facts:

• Three thousand athletes from over 90 countries are set to compete at the Winter Olympics.
• Norway is the odds-on favourite to top the medal table at Milano Cortina 2026.
• Team USA boasts strength and depth, making it an attractive betting alternative.

The 2026 Winter Olympics, commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026, are now less than 50 days away. Competition will take place from February 6 to 22, 2026, at venues across Lombardy and Northeast Italy. Three thousand athletes from over 90 countries will take part.

The Olympic torch relay began on November 26, when the flame was lit in Olympia, Greece. Seven Greek and 110 Italian provinces later, following a 12,000-kilometre journey, it will arrive at Stadio San Siro for the opening ceremony of the XXV Winter Olympic Games on February 6.

Hosting the Winter Olympics is proven to increase a country’s medal haul. Norway (Lillehammer 1994), Canada (Vancouver 2010), and Russia (Sochi 2014) had their best-ever or near-best medal performances when hosting the games.

A mix of environmental familiarity, psychological factors, structural advantages and crowd support tips the scales in a home nation’s favour. In Russia’s case, a widespread, state-sponsored doping program, highlighted in the Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus, was also of additional assistance.

Norway Shooting at a Medal Topping Four Timer

It is unlikely there will be any circumvention of WADA’s dope testing process in 2026. Last week, Italian authorities and the Olympic Games organisers announced that they will track betting patterns to detect and prevent match-fixing at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

And so, while Italy may over-perform, current form should prove to be punters’ best guide. It suggests that Norway will top the medal table for golds and overall medals won. The UK’s best online betting sites quote the country on 4/7 odds to fare best in 2026.

Norway has been the dominant nation in winter sports for the past decade. It topped the medal table at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Olympics. Overall, Norway, with a current population of 5.6 million, has been the most successful participating country in ten of the previous 24 Winter Games.

Norway’s Old Stars Are Missing

Norway was considerably shorter in the betting at the start of 2025. The factors at play include the shock retirement of Johannes Thingnes Bø. The biathlete provided his country with four of its 16 golds at the 2020 Winter Olympics.

Another biathlete, Marte Olsbu Røiseland, who won three gold medals at the 2022 Beijing Games, has also retired. Alpine ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who has clear chances in the slalom and giant slalom events, has defected to the Brazilian team.

A new generation of Norwegian athletes is poised to step in and compete for medals, and the country maintains its dominance in cross-country and biathlon. However, its chances of topping the medal table hinge on collecting medals in other sports.

Strength and Depth Make Team USA Contenders

The Netherlands, a skating powerhouse, is in a similar position. It can easily take half of the 14 speed skating events, but its squad could struggle to gain golds in any of the Olympics’ seven other sports (and figure skating).

If Norway is to be beaten in the medal table, the USA could be the country to spoil the party. Remarkably, the USA has topped the table just once – in 1932 – but it has a strong representation in a broad cross-section of events in 2026.

Ilia Malinin and Alysa Liu appear to be shoe-ins in figure skating. Mikaela Shiffrin will be a short-priced favourite in alpine skiing’s slalom race. The legendary Lindsey Vonn has returned to winning ways in downhill skiing and is another genuine gold medal contender with a recent victory under her belt.

Add cross-country skier Jessie Diggins to the ‘in-form’ category and factor in the overall class of Chloe Kim and Red Gerard (snowboarding), Alex Ferreira and Jaelin Kauf (freestyle skiing), the USA’s women’s and men’s hockey teams, and others, and at 11/2, Team USA represents a genuine value alternative to Norway in the medal table betting.