U.S. Achieves Record Winter Olympics Medal Haul Despite Regional Limitations

MILAN — In the end, it turned out to be a Winter Olympics for the record books.

U.S. athletes arrived in Italy facing protests and questions about their nation's politics. In early competition, some of the biggest U.S. stars stumbled in dramatic fashion on the snow and ice.

But when the spotlight shifted to the closing ceremony in Verona, the U.S. had scooped up 12 gold medals — its best tally ever in a Winter Games — with 33 medals overall. That trails only winter sport superpower Norway.

The medal came on the strength of superstars like Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin and speedskater Jordan Stolz, as well as stunning team performances by U.S. figure skaters, and the U.S. men's and women's hockey teams.

"The men of USA hockey are GOLDEN at the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1980," the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee crowed on X.

In the end, the U.S. was also the only nation outside Europe to crack the top five in the medal count.

"I don't think I'm going to process this for a while," said Elena Meyers Taylor from Georgia, who won gold in the "monobob" bobsled event. "There were so many moments during this entire season, during this past four years, that we just thought it was impossible."

One notable thing about the strong medal harvest is that it came despite the fact that winter sport remains a regional tradition in the U.S.

The U.S. sent its largest roster of athletes ever, 232 men and women, to these Winter Games, but 18 states sent no Olympians at all. Even some states where winters are long, like Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota, sent no competitors.

That's according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's official tally of athletes and their "recognized hometowns."

It's important to note that elite athletes are often mobile, living and training in a variety of places. Also, athletes from a variety of states contributed to team medal wins.

Still, it's clear that a relative handful of U.S. states punched far above their weight, with Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Utah fostering elite winter athletes and scooping up medals.

Colorado alone accounted for five medals, including three gold. Vermont and Wyoming, two states with tiny populations, accounted for a gold and six silver medals.

"It's been a tough road, but sometimes you just have to keep going because that's the only option. And sometimes when you keep going, maybe you'll make it back to the top," said Alpine skier Breezy Johnson from Wyoming, who won gold in women's downhill. "It's really special."

There's one other accomplishment that makes the U.S. medal haul in Italy noteworthy: the range of wins across sport.

Yes, Norway took home more gold and more medals overall. But its wins came in a relatively narrow group of sports, with 25 of 41 medals won in just two disciplines: cross-country skiing and biathlon.

The U.S., by contrast, medaled in eleven different sports disciplines, from bobsled to figure skating to hockey to speedskating.

"It [the gold medal win] means a lot to me," said Stolz, from Wisconsin, who picked up two gold and a silver in Milan. "It's every four years that you get the chance to win Olympic gold, so I'm super happy."

A final footnote to this historic U.S. medal tally comes from Olympic historian Bill Mallon, who noted that this year's medal achievement "has to be considered against the fact that there are now many more events at the Winter Olympics."

"Our previous best [gold medal tally] was 10 in 2002, there were 78 events. There are now 116 events," Mallon told NPR.

Even so, this year's performance marks a big improvement from the last Winter Olympics, in Beijing four years ago, when the U.S. won nine gold and 25 medals overall.