The United States won its first ever medal in singles’s luge yesterday with Erin Hamlin’s bronze in women’s singles. The USA has won luge medals before but only in men’s doubles. The USA has never won a medal in biathlon but that is the only sport missing from the American Winter Olympic trophy case. How does that stand compared to other nations?

First of all, as we discussed on this blog almost a month ago, we will consider sports as all the sports and disciplines on the Olympic Program. Thus we will use 15 sports – Alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsledding, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short-track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding, and speed skating. We’ll skip military ski patrol, which was only an Olympic medal sport in 1924 and is somewhat similar to biathlon.

So given that, which nation has won medals in the most sports? Has any nation won medals in all the sports? The answers are the USA, sorta, and no, sorta.

Here is the list of all nations who have won medals in 10 or more sports:

[table]

NOC,###,Missing Sports

USA,14,Biathlon

GER,13,Curling/Short-Track

AUT,12,Curling/Ice Hockey/Short-Track

CAN,12,Luge/Nordic Combined/Ski Jumping

RUS,12,Curling/Ski Jumping/Short-Track

FIN,11,Bobsled/Luge/Short-Track/Skeleton

ITA,11,Curling/Freestyle/Ice Hockey/Ski Jumping

SUI,11,Biathlon/Luge/Short-Track/Speed Skating

SWE,11,Bobsled/Luge/Short-Track/Skeleton

NOR,10,Bobsled/Ice Hockey/Luge/Short-Track/Skeleton

URS,10,Curling/Freestyle/Short-Track/Skeleton/Snowboarding

[/table]

So the USA leads with medals in 14 of the 15 available Olympic Winter sports. Or do we?

Look at the Soviet Union down at the bottom of that list with medals in 10 sports. They are missing curling, freestyle, short-track, skeleton, and snowboarding. But none of those sports were on the Olympic Program when the Soviet Union existed as a nation. So one can say that the former Soviet Union is the only nation to have won Winter Olympic medals in every sport on the Olympic Program available to them.

USA Yesterday at the Olympics

• The biggest news was likely Erin Hamlin winning a bronze medal in the luge singles. No USA woman had ever won a medal in luge at the Olympics, with the previous best 4^th by Courtney Zablocki in 2006.
• In women’s women’s freestyle skiing slopestyle Devon Logan won a silver medal. This event was new to the Olympics.
• Sophie Caldwell made the final of the women’s cross-country sprint and finished 6^th, the best ever finish by a USA woman in Olympic cross-country skiing. Medal favorite Kikkan Randall had what the French refer to in the Tour de France as “un jour sans” and failed to make the semi-finals, placing 18^th.

 

USA Today at the Olympics

• Alpine Skiing Women’s Downhill – USA has won 7 medals in this event, 3rd all-time, trailing Austria (16) and Switzerland (9). USA has won 1 gold medal in the event – Lindsey Vonn in 2010. The first medal won by the USA in downhill was a silver medal in 1960 by Penny Pitou. Julia Mancuso is back after a silver medal in this event in 2010 behind Vonn. USA has had two top 10s in the event thrice – 2010 with Vonn and Mancuso, 2006 with Mancuso (7) and Vonn (=8), and 1980 with Heidi Preuss (4) and Cindy Nelson (=7). Last medal before 2010 was Picabo Street, a silver in 1994.
• Figure Skating Mixed Pairs – USA has won 6 medals in this event, =4th all-time with Russia, trailing the Soviet Union (12), Germany (7), and Canada (7). The USA has never won a gold medal in pairs. The silver medals won (3) were by Beatrix Loughran and Sherwin Badger in 1932, Karol and Peter Kennedy in 1952, and Kitty and Peter Carruthers in 1984. Our last medal in this event was a bronze in 1988 by Jill Watson and Peter Oppegard.
• Luge Men’s Doubles – USA has won 4 medals in this event, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes. In both 1998 and 2002 we won silver and bronze for our 4 medals. Since then we had an 8th by Preston Griffall / Dan Joye in 2006 and a 6th by Christian Niccum / Dan Joye in 2010. USA is =5th for most medals with the former West Germany, trailing, in order, the former East Germany (GDR) (8), and Austria, Germany, and Italy with 7 medals.
• Nordic Combined Men’s Individual Normal Hill – Comes off an awesome performance at Vancouver in Nordic Combined with a silver medal in this event by Johnny Spillane, with Todd Lodwick placing 4th, and Billy Demong 6th. That was the first medal ever won by the United States in Nordic Combined, but 11 days later, Demong won gold and Spillane silver on the large hill individual event. This is technically only the second time this event has been held, as the Nordic combined individual events were changed in 2010 to a normal hill and a large hill event. Previously the skiiers/jumpers had contested an individual event (on normal hill) and sprint event (on large hill), but there were other differences than just the hills.
• Snowboarding Women’s Halfpipe – Event has been held 4 times and the US has won half (6) of the available medals (12), and half of the gold medals (2 of 4). The golds were by Kelly Clark in 2002 and Hannah Teter in 2006. In 2010 Teter and Clark returned to win a silver (Teter) and bronze (Clark). They are the only 2 women to win 2 medals in this event. In 2006, USA also went 1-2 in the event with Teter winning and Gretchen Bleiler 2nd.
• Speed Skating Men’s 1,000 metres – The USA has won this event half of the time it has been held – 5/10. USA has won 8 medals, with Netherlands and Soviet Union 2nd with 5 medals. Shani Davis has won this event in both 2006 and 2010 and is favored to win again. If he wins, he joins three women who have won the same event 3 consecutive times at the WOG – Sonja Henie (women’s figure skating 1928-36), Bonnie Blair (women’s speed skating 500 metres 1988-94), and Claudia Pechstein (women’s speed skating 5,000 metres 1994-2002). See notes below on possible records to be set by Davis.

 

If Shani Davis Wins the Men’s 1,000 m Speed Skating …

• He wins his 3^rd consecutive gold medal in the event, only done at the Winter Olympics previously by Sonja Henie (women’s figure skating 1928-36), Bonnie Blair (women’s speed skating 500 metres 1988-94), and Claudia Pechstein (women’s speed skating 5,000 metres 1994-2002). All were in individual events.
• He becomes the first male speed skater to win gold medals at 3 consecutive Winter Olympics, not just in the same event. Among women this has been done by Blair and Pechstein, German Anni Freisinger-Postma (2002-10), and Dutchwoman Ireen Wüst (2006-14).
• Nine athletes have won the same event 4 or more times at the Summer Olympics, but in individual events, only Al Oerter (athletics discus throw 1956-68) and Carl Lewis (athletics long jump 1984-96) have done so (using very strict criteria). 48 athletes have won the same event 3 times at the Summer Olympics, so Davis would be tied for 10^th overall in all Olympic events, and tied for 3^rd overall in individual Olympic events.
• Among US athletes, only Bonnie Blair has won 3 consecutive gold medals in the same event at the WOG, and it was in an individual event. As noted above, at the SOG, Oerter and Lewis have won the same individual event 4 times consecutively. US athletes have won 3 consecutive golds in the same event 15 times at the SOG, with Michael Phelps doing it 4 times in London. Of these 6 occurred in individual events, twice by Phelps in London (100 fly, 200 IM).
• At the WOG, two athletes have won gold medals at 5 consecutive Games – Claudia Pechstein (GER-SSK) and Georg Hackl (GER-LUG). Seven athletes have won gold medals at 4 consecutive WOG, but only 2 men – Aleksandr Tikhonov (URS-BIA) and Gillis Grafström (SWE-FSK) (counting his win in 1920). 14 men and 12 women have won gold medals at 3 consecutive WOG.
• Davis would also become only the 2^nd American to win gold medals at 3 consecutive WOG, joining Bonne Blair, as noted above.

 

This Day at the Olympics

343 Olympians were born

68 Olympians died

85 Olympic events were held

 

USA Births and Death on this Day at the Olympics

Born

[table]

Date,Name,Sport,Years

12 Feb 1870,Jay Graham,SHO,1912

12 Feb 1874,Ed Marsh,ROW,1900

12 Feb 1882,Gus Wester,WRE,1904

12 Feb 1885,Horace Ramey,ATH,1908

12 Feb 1893,Edward Knourek,ATH,1920

12 Feb 1898,Roy Harris,ART,1936

12 Feb 1916,Walter Bietila,SKJ,1936-48

12 Feb 1917,William Johnson,SKE,1948

12 Feb 1921,Albie Axelrod,FEN,1952-68

12 Feb 1922,Ray Sorensen,GYM,1948

12 Feb 1927,Charles Davis,SHO,1972

12 Feb 1934,Bill Russell,BAS,1956

12 Feb 1937,Charlie Dumas,ATH,1956-60

12 Feb 1950,Louis Self,BOX,1972

12 Feb 1955,Robin Backhaus,SWI,1972

12 Feb 1958,Pam Page,ATH,1984

12 Feb 1959,Andrew Weaver,CYC,1984

12 Feb 1964,Sam Graddy,ATH,1984

12 Feb 1964,Anna Seaton,ROW,1988-92

12 Feb 1967,Aaron Pollock,ROW,1992

12 Feb 1968,Carrie Steinseifer,SWI,1984

12 Feb 1971,Michelle Collins,ATH,2000

12 Feb 1971,Vernon Forrest,BOX,1992

12 Feb 1975,Jason Rosener,ASK,1998

12 Feb 1982,Steve Nyman,ASK,2006-10

12 Feb 1984,Peter Vanderkaay,SWI,2004-12

12 Feb 1991,Sarah Scherer,SHO,2012

[/table]

 

Died

[table]

Date,Name,Sport,Years

12 Feb 1943,Claude Jameson,FTB,1904

12 Feb 1969,Louis Weintz,CYC,1908

12 Feb 1975,Ralph Fabri,ART,1936

12 Feb 1976,Charles Daggs,ATH,1920

12 Feb 1977,Carl Hallsthammar,ART,1932

12 Feb 1991,Robert Livermore Jr.,ASK,1936

[/table]

Previous USA Olympic Medalists on this Day

[table]

Medalist,Sport,X,Event,Medal,Date

USA Team,FSK,X,Pairs,Silver,12 Feb 1932

Dianne Holum,SSK,F,3000 m,Silver,12 Feb 1972

Peter Mueller,SSK,M,1000 m,Gold,12 Feb 1976

USA Team,FSK,X,Pairs,Silver,12 Feb 1984

Ross Powers,SNB,M,Halfpipe,Bronze,12 Feb 1998

Shannon Dunn,SNB,F,Halfpipe,Bronze,12 Feb 1998

Travis Mayer,FRS,M,Moguls,Silver,12 Feb 2002

Casey FitzRandolph,SSK,M,500 m,Gold,12 Feb 2002

Kip Carpenter,SSK,M,500 m,Bronze,12 Feb 2002

Shaun White,SNB,M,Halfpipe,Gold,12 Feb 2006

Danny Kass,SNB,M,Halfpipe,Silver,12 Feb 2006

[/table]

 

Medal Standings after Day …

[table]

Day #5 – 11 Feb 2014,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Norway,4,3,4,11,1

Canada,4,3,2,9,2

Netherlands,3,2,3,8,3

United States,2,1,4,7,4

Russia,1,3,3,7,5

Germany,4,1,-,5,6

Austria,1,3,-,4,7

Sweden,-,3,1,4,8

France,1,-,2,3,9

Czech Republic,-,2,1,3,10

Slovenia,-,1,2,3,11

Switzerland,2,-,-,2,12

Italy,-,1,1,2,=13

Japan,-,1,1,2,=13

Belarus,1,-,-,1,=15

Korea,1,-,-,1,=15

Poland,1,-,-,1,=15

Slovakia,1,-,-,1,=15

China,-,1,-,1,=19

Finland,-,1,-,1,=19

Great Britain,-,-,1,1,=21

Ukraine,-,-,1,1,=21

Total (26 events),26,26,26,78

[/table]

[table]

Day #5 – 16 Feb 2010,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

United States,2,2,4,8,1

Germany,2,4,1,7,2

France,2,1,4,7,3

Canada,2,2,1,5,4

Korea,3,1,-,4,5

Switzerland,3,-,1,4,6

China,1,1,1,3,7

Norway,-,2,1,3,8

Italy,-,1,2,3,9

Sweden,2,-,-,2,10

Slovakia,1,1,-,2,11

Czech Republic,1,-,1,2,12

Austria,-,1,1,2,=13

Japan,-,1,1,2,=13

Netherlands,1,-,-,1,15

Australia,-,1,-,1,=16

Estonia,-,1,-,1,=16

Poland,-,1,-,1,=16

Croatia,-,-,1,1,=19

Russia,-,-,1,1,=19

Totals (20 events),20,20,20,60

[/table]

[table]

Day #5 – 14 Feb 2006,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Norway,1,5,5,11,1

Russia,4,2,3,9,2

United States,5,2,-,7,3

Germany,4,2,1,7,4

China,-,2,3,5,5

Netherlands,1,2,-,3,6

Canada,1,1,1,3,=7

Korea,1,1,1,3,=7

Italy,1,-,2,3,9

Austria,-,2,1,3,10

Finland,-,1,2,3,11

Sweden,2,-,-,2,12

France,1,-,1,2,13

Estonia,1,-,-,1,14

Croatia,-,1,-,1,=15

Czech Republic,-,1,-,1,=15

Latvia,-,-,1,1,=17

Switzerland,-,-,1,1,=17

Totals (22 events),22,22,22,66

[/table]

[table]

Day #5 – 12 Feb 2002,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

United States,3,4,2,9,1

Norway,3,3,1,7,2

Austria,2,1,4,7,3

Germany,2,3,1,6,4

Italy,2,1,1,4,5

Russia,1,1,2,4,6

Finland,2,1,-,3,7

France,1,1,1,3,8

Netherlands,1,1,-,2,9

Estonia,1,-,1,2,=10

Switzerland,1,-,1,2,=10

Japan,-,1,1,2,12

Czech Republic,-,1,-,1,13

Canada,-,-,1,1,=14

China,-,-,1,1,=14

Poland,-,-,1,1,=14

Sweden,-,-,1,1,=14

Totals (18 events),19,18,19,56

[/table]

[table]

Day #5 – 11 Feb 1998,Gold,Silver,Bronze,Total,Rank (US)

Germany,3,4,4,11,1

Russia,4,3,-,7,2

Norway,1,1,3,5,3

Austria,-,1,4,5,4

Finland,2,1,1,4,5

Italy,-,3,1,4,6

Japan,2,1,-,3,7

Canada,1,1,1,3,8

United States,2,-,-,2,9

Netherlands,1,1,-,2,10

Czech Republic,-,1,1,2,11

Bulgaria,1,-,-,1,=12

France,1,-,-,1,=12

Ukraine,-,1,-,1,14

Belgium,-,-,1,1,=15

Belarus,-,-,1,1,=15

Switzerland,-,-,1,1,=15

Totals (18 events),18,18,18,54

[/table]

• Speed Skating Women’s 1000 metres Event Factsheets

• Short-Track Speed Skating Women 500 metres Event Factsheets

• Cross-Country Women’s 10 km Event Factsheets

First held at the 1952 Winter Olympics, this event was not held in 1992, 1994, or 1998, but has been conducted at all other Winter Olympics since 1952.

• Biathlon Men’s 20 km Event Factsheets

The men’s 20 km is the original biathlon Olympic event and has been held at every Olympics since 1960, when biathlon made its Olympic debut.

• USA Biathlon Men’s 20 km Event Factsheets
• USA Cross-Country Skiing Women’s 10 km Event Factsheets
• USA Short-Track Speed Skating Women’s 500 metres Event Factsheets
• USA Speed Skating Women’s 1000 metres Event Factsheets

Other events for medals on this day are men’s freestyle skiing slopestyle and luge mixed relays, which are both new Olympic events.

On day 4 Norway extended their lead on the points table mostly via cross country skiing successes.
Canada overtook Russia to move into 2nd place whilst a quieter day for the Dutch at speed skating ensured that the USA move into 4th place.
Belarus is the latest country to appear on the list.

The scoring table is as follows;
1st 8 points
2nd 7
3rd 6
4th 5
5th 4
6th 3
7th 2
8th 1
If countries are level on points their single best result is the tiebreak.

[table]
Rank, Nation,Points,Tie breaker
1, NOR, 115,
2, CAN, 90,
3, RUS, 83,
4, USA, 70,
5, NED, 68,
6, GER, 64,
7, AUT, 48,
8, SWE, 45,
9, JPN, 43,
10, ITA, 39,
11, FRA, 35,
12, SUI, 34,
13, CZE, 30,
14, SLO, 28,
15, CHN, 25,
16, KOR, 16,
17, POL, 15, 1st
18, FIN, 15, 2nd
19, GBR, 13, 3rd
20, AUS, 13, 4th
21, SVK, 11,
22, UKR, 10,
23, BLR, 8, 1st
23, KAZ, 8, 5th
25, BEL, 5,
[/table]

Canada has already had 3 events in Sochi in which they have put 2 of their athletes on the podium. We were asked if that is a record for Canada and it is – equalling 2006, when they also did it in 3 events – of course, that was for the entire Winter Olympics.

So we were wondering, how often has it happened that nations have put 2 or more athletes on a podium at a Winter Olympics? Turns out it has happened quite often – 404 times to be exact. So which nations have done it the most at a single Winter Olympics. Here’s the full list, led by the Soviet Union with 9 double+ podiums in 1988.

 

[table]

NOC,Year,###

Soviet Union,1988,9

German Democratic Republic,1988,8

Soviet Union,1964,8

Soviet Union,1976,8

United States,2010,8

Unified Team,1992,7

German Democratic Republic,1984,7

United States,2002,7

Austria,1992,6

Germany,1992,6

Germany,1998,6

Norway,1924,6

Norway,1928,6

Norway,1994,6

Soviet Union,1980,6

Austria,2006,5

German Democratic Republic,1976,5

Germany,2002,5

Germany,2010,5

Norway,1952,5

Norway,1992,5

Russia,1994,5

Russia,1998,5

Soviet Union,1960,5

Soviet Union,1984,5

Austria,1998,4

German Democratic Republic,1972,4

German Democratic Republic,1980,4

Netherlands,1968,4

Netherlands,1998,4

Norway,1936,4

Norway,1948,4

Norway,1964,4

Norway,2006,4

Soviet Union,1956,4

United States,2006,4

Austria,1956,3

Austria,1964,3

Austria,1968,3

Austria,2002,3

Canada,2006,3

China,2006,3

Finland,1924,3

Finland,1952,3

Finland,1984,3

Great Britain,1908,3

Germany,1994,3

Germany,2006,3

Korea (South),2006,3

Netherlands,1972,3

Norway,1972,3

Norway,1998,3

Switzerland,1988,3

Soviet Union,1968,3

Soviet Union,1972,3

United States,1932,3

[/table]

 

In an earlier post we noted that there have been 39 medal sweeps by NOCs at the Winter Olympics. Its actually now 41, since the Netherlands swept men’s speed skating 500 and 5,000 metres in Sochi. Have any nations had 2, or more, medals sweeps at a single Winter Olympics? Turns out 2 is the record, done now 8 times, including the Netherlands in 2014.

 

[table]

NOC,Year

German Democratic Republic,1972

German Democratic Republic,1984

Germany,1998

Netherlands,2014

Norway,1924

Norway,1928

Norway,1932

Soviet Union,1964

[/table]

 

Some have speculated that USA women could win 4 or 5 medals today in Sochi and wondered if that is a record. It would be. USA women have never won more than 3 medals on a single day at the Winter Olympics. Below is the list.

 

USA – Women Only

[table]

Year,Date,Day#,Weekday,G,S,B,TM

1960,23 February,6,Tuesday,1,1,1,3

1968,9 February,4,Friday,0,3,0,3

2002,20 February,13,Wednesday,1,1,1,3

2002,21 February,14,Thursday,1,1,1,3

2010,18 February,7,Thursday,0,2,1,3

[/table]

 

And in case you’re wondering, here is the list of most medals won in a single day for the USA – men and women.

 

USA – Men and Women

[table]

Year,Date,Day#,Weekday,G,S,B,TM

2010,17 February,6,Wednesday,3,1,2,6

2002,20 February,13,Wednesday,3,1,1,5

1928,17 February,7,Friday,2,2,0,4

2002,21 February,14,Thursday,1,2,1,4

2010,18 February,7,Thursday,1,2,1,4

2010,25 February,14,Thursday,1,3,0,4

2010,13 February,2,Saturday,1,1,2,4

2006,13 February,4,Monday,2,1,0,3

2002,11 February,4,Monday,1,1,1,3

2002,19 February,12,Tuesday,2,1,0,3

2002,12 February,5,Tuesday,1,1,1,3

1960,23 February,6,Tuesday,1,1,1,3

2006,21 February,12,Tuesday,0,2,1,3

1956,1 February,7,Wednesday,1,1,1,3

1932,4 February,1,Thursday,2,1,0,3

2006,24 February,15,Friday,1,1,1,3

1968,9 February,4,Friday,0,3,0,3

2002,15 February,8,Friday,0,1,2,3

2006,18 February,9,Saturday,1,1,1,3

1948,31 January,1,Saturday,0,2,1,3

2010,20 February,9,Saturday,0,1,2,3

2002,23 February,16,Saturday,0,1,2,3

[/table]