Each could win 36 Olympic medals, although the Journal’s simulations show the U.S. is slightly likelier to get there. It won medals in just two sports—figure-skating and speedskating—out of 10 at the 1988 Winter Olympics but improved to winning medals in 10 of 15 sports, or 67%, at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. That would immediately multiply the Americans’ haul of cross-country medals, which now consists solely of Bill Koch’s silver in 1976. In Sochi, it won 21 of its 26 medals in just three sports, all of which employ cross-country skiing: biathlon, Nordic combined—a sport that blends cross-country skiing and ski jumping—and cross-country skiing by itself. Among Norway’s cross-country skiing standouts is Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, a 21-year-old heartthrob coached by his grandfather.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 06, 2018 17:42 UTC