The objective before starting the Olympics was simple: to do as well, or even better, than in Sochi (2014) and Pyeongchang (2018) by bringing back fifteen medals. And if this bar was not reached, it was necessary to climb on at least ten podiums. “Below ten medals, it would be a disappointment,” warned the president of the French Ski Federation, Anne-Chantal Pigelet-Grevy before the start of the Olympics. Finally, the balance sheet of the tricolor delegation in these Games was more than satisfactory, with fourteen charms won (five in gold, seven in silver, two in bronze).
And to reach this figure, France has been able to count on its main locomotive for several years, the biathlon. In the wake of the exceptional Quentin Fillon Maillet, who became the first French athlete in history to win five medals at the same edition of the Winter Games, the biathletes climbed on seven podiums, three times on the highest step. A performance that allowed them to beat Vancouver’s medal record in 2010 (six podiums). Alpine skiing also brought three trinkets to France.
Norway, queen of the Games
With 37 metals, including 16 in gold, the Norwegians rode on these Olympic Games, finishing well first in the ranking of nations ahead of Germany (27, twelve coronations) and China (15). The host country has also exploded its gold medal counter, going from a small coronation in 2018, to nine titles in 2022. To do this, the Middle Kingdom was able to count on its new star , Eileen Gu.
But the small disappointment of the Olympics is undoubtedly Canada. For the first time since 2006, the Canadians leave the Olympic Games without reaching the symbolic bar of ten gold medals (they have, all the same, 26 charms on the clock). Worse still, they have been crowned just four times in Beijing, their worst total since 1994. See you in Italy in 2026 to see if it was just a mishap.