The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing concluded on February 20, 2022, following more than two weeks of action in which 109 events were contested across 15 disciplines. Several new events, including big air freestyle skiing, were contested for the first time in Olympic history. More than 90 countries, including first-time Winter Games participants Saudi Arabia and Haiti, sent athletes to the Games.
Twenty-seven of those countries won at least one medal at the 2022 Beijing Games. Latvia, Poland, and Spain were among the five countries to win just one medal. Thirteen countries won more than 10 medals. Canada, for instance, finished fourth in total medals with 26, but ranked 11th in gold medals with only four.
Below is a look at the five countries that won the most gold medals.
Norway (16)
A historically dominant country in the Olympic Winter Games, Norway topped the Beijing 2022 medal table with 16 gold, eight silver, and 13 bronze medals. Its athletes won four more gold medals than Germany, which had the second-most gold medals, and five more medals of any kind (37) than ROC, which had the second-most total medals. Norway’s 16 gold medals is the most won by any nation in a single Olympic Winter Games. Norway also led all countries with 39 medals four years prior at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.
Norway won medals in nine of the 15 disciplines at the 2022 Beijing Games, but particularly excelled in biathlon and cross-country skiing events. It won 11 of its 16 gold medals in these sports. Johannes Thingnes Boe followed up a three-medal performance at the 2018 PyeongChang Games by winning four gold and one bronze medal in Beijing. The biathlete won gold in the men’s 10km sprint and men’s 15km mass start and was a member of Norway’s gold-medal-winning men’s and mixed relay teams. He added a bronze medal in the men’s 20km individual.
Johannes Hoesflot-Klaebo (cross-country skiing), Birk Ruud (freestyle skiing), Joergen Graabak (Nordic combined), and Marius Lindvik (ski jumping) were among the other Norwegian athletes to win a gold medal. Norway also won gold in the men’s speedskating team pursuit. The country’s success isn’t surprising considering its climate and government spending on sports, but Norway’s chef de mission Tore Oevreboe suggests winning isn’t the central focus.
“The main objective for us is to make the athletes have fun all the way through the Games,” he noted, speaking to CNN. “We are very occupied with creating a good environment, a stable environment, a safe environment, an environment full of fun, so they can really enjoy life when they are doing sport at a high level.”
Germany (12)
Germany finished third in total medals (27) and won 12 gold medals after winning 14 four years prior at PyeongChang. The country was especially dominant in bobsled, luge, and skeleton. Germany won nine of the 10 gold and 16 of 30 total medals available in events across those disciplines. In addition, it became the first country at the Beijing Olympics to have its athletes sweep the podium when its teams finished first, second, and third in the two-man bobsled competition.
Germany won a gold and silver medal in the four-man bobsled event on the final day of competition for sliding sports. Francesco Friedrich piloted the first-place team to a combined four-heat time of 3 minutes, 54.5 seconds. Johannes Lochner’s four-person team finished second, at less than one second behind.
Outside of sliding sports, German athletes also won gold in biathlon, cross-country skiing, and Nordic combined.
China (9)
China had a relatively disappointing Olympics as host nation, at least when compared to the last three hosts. It finished third in gold medals with nine, but won only 15 total medals. South Korea won 17 medals at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, while Russia and Canada won 29 and 26 medals when they hosted the Winter Olympics in 2014 and 2010, respectively.
Chinese athletes, including Guangpu Qi in men’s aerials, won four of those nine gold medals in freestyle skiing. Ziwei Ren won gold in the men’s 1000m short-track speed skating event; Yiming Su won gold in men’s snowboard big air, and Tingyu Gao won gold in men’s 500m speed skating. The Chinese team finished first place in the short-track speed skating mixed team relay and Cong Han and Wenjing Sui won gold in pairs figure skating.
United States (8)
Headlined by Nathan Chen’s gold medal performance in men’s single figure skating, the United States of America won eight gold medals and 25 total medals at the 2022 Beijing Games. It also won three snowboard gold medals, two freestyle skiing gold medals, and one each in speed skating and bobsled.
Sweden (8)
Sweden had its best performance ever at the 2022 Beijing Games as it established new records in gold (8) and total medals (18). It had previously won seven gold medals in 2018 and 2006 and won 15 total medals in 2014. Sweden won gold in curling, alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, and speedskating events. Nils van der Poel was a double gold medalist after finishing first in the men’s 5000m and 10000m speed skating events.