The Winter Olympics is one of the oldest competitions in the world but who has won the most medals country wise?
The Winter Olympics bring out the best competitors across several sports from across the world. While this is not as big as the Summer Olympics, simply due to climate issues, the Games are still followed by millions.
The Games have been held since 1924 and several countries have tried their best to remain at the forefront to win as many medals as possible.
Of course, it isn’t easy for all countries to participate in the Games. A country that has a lot of snow and cold weather will see more growth in sports like ice skating or ice hockey when compared to a country that is near the Equator.
Nevertheless, we have still seen some countries try their best in performing at the Olympics, and getting to the Games is something to boast about.
While countries such as Russia and the United States boast of a huge budget to prepare their stars for the Games. However, it comes as a bit of a surprise to which country is on top of the medal table.
Which country has won the most Winter Olympics medals?
While the United States and Russia are near the top of the list in terms of winning the most Winter Olympic medals, it is Norway who is way ahead of the rest.
Till the 2018 Games, the European country had won 132 Gold medals, 125 Silver medals and 111 Bronze medals for a total of 368 medals. Betway have priced Norway as early favourites to win the most medals at 11/50.
This was far ahead of the United States, who are second on the list. They have won 105 Gold medals, 112 Silver medals and 88 Bronze medals for a total of 305.
Of course, Golds count for more in the overall scheme of things and Norway are streaks ahead of the US. The third country on the list is Germany with 92 Golds, 88 Silvers and 60 Bronzes for a total of 240.
Fourth comes the USSR, and it is interesting to note that there are several countries that have been formed after the breaking of the Soviet Union. Russia still comes on the list but they are ninth.
The same can be said about East Germany and West Germany, who both feature on the list separately from modern-day Germany.
Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia are other examples of countries that are featured on the list despite being broken up.
Here is the complete list of all the countries with medals in the Winter Olympic Games. These are accurate till the 2018 Games and have not accounted for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Additionally, these have been ranked on the basis of Gold medals won since those count for more when listing out tables.
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Norway (NOR) | 132 | 125 | 111 | 368 |
| 2 | United States (USA) | 105 | 112 | 88 | 305 |
| 3 | Germany (GER) | 92 | 88 | 60 | 240 |
| 4 | Soviet Union (URS)* | 78 | 57 | 59 | 194 |
| 5 | Canada (CAN) | 73 | 64 | 62 | 199 |
| 6 | Austria (AUT) | 64 | 81 | 87 | 232 |
| 7 | Sweden (SWE) | 57 | 46 | 55 | 158 |
| 8 | Switzerland (SUI) | 56 | 45 | 52 | 153 |
| 9 | Russia (RUS) | 47 | 39 | 35 | 121 |
| 10 | Netherlands (NED) | 45 | 44 | 41 | 130 |
| 11 | Finland (FIN) | 43 | 63 | 61 | 167 |
| 12 | Italy (ITA) | 40 | 36 | 48 | 124 |
| 13 | East Germany (GDR)* | 39 | 36 | 35 | 110 |
| 14 | France (FRA) | 36 | 35 | 53 | 124 |
| 15 | South Korea (KOR) | 31 | 25 | 14 | 70 |
| 16 | Japan (JPN) | 14 | 22 | 22 | 58 |
| 17 | China (CHN) | 13 | 28 | 21 | 62 |
| 18 | West Germany (FRG)* | 11 | 15 | 13 | 39 |
| 19 | Great Britain (GBR) | 11 | 4 | 17 | 32 |
| 20 | Czech Republic (CZE) | 9 | 11 | 11 | 31 |
| 21 | Unified Team (EUN)* | 9 | 6 | 8 | 23 |
| 22 | United Team of Germany (EUA)* | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 23 | Belarus (BLR) | 8 | 5 | 5 | 18 |
| 24 | Poland (POL) | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| 25 | Australia (AUS) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| 26 | Croatia (CRO) | 4 | 6 | 1 | 11 |
| 27 | Estonia (EST) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 28 | Slovakia (SVK) | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 29 | Ukraine (UKR) | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 30 | Czechoslovakia (TCH)* | 2 | 8 | 15 | 25 |
| 31 | ROC (ROC)* | 2 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
| 32 | Slovenia (SLO) | 2 | 5 | 10 | 17 |
| 33 | Liechtenstein (LIE) | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 34 | Latvia (LAT) | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| 35 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 36 | Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 37 | Belgium (BEL) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Bulgaria (BUL) | Tied with Belgium on same type and number of medals | ||||
| 39 | Spain (ESP) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 40 | Uzbekistan (UZB) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 41 | Yugoslavia (YUG)* | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 42 | Luxembourg (LUX) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 | New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 44 | North Korea (PRK) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 45 | Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 | Romania (ROU) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total countries/NOCs – 46: 1062 Gold medals, 1059 Silver medals, 1050 Bronze medals = 3171 medals