NORWAY leads the Winter Sports table, the USA top of the Global Cup ranking

At the end of March the USA have already regained their lead in the 2013 Global Cup.

They are top of the ranking of the best nations in sports  – albeit narrowly - over Norway, Canada, Germany, Russia, France and Austria.

 

GSN statistics show that the key to US performance is, as usual, strength in depth: they have already scored points in 20 different sports! Second placed Norway has scored only in 9 and Russia in 15.

 

Last month’s leaders’ Spain have plummeted down in 18th place, after a month dominated by Winter Sports. 9477 Winter Sports pts have been awarded so far this year (vs 4719 this time last year), and the race for the sports group title is very tight.

 

Norway is leading after a resounding triumph in the Cross-country Skiing World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. They took  a whopping 7 golds in the championships, finishing well ahead of Sweden, Russia, Finland and Switzerland, and topping both the Mens and the Ladies (5 golds to their credit, three of which to Marit Bjorgen) tables. In fact all Norway’s points so far come from the Cross-country Worlds and, given their strong performances in Alpine Skiing too, they must be a strong contender, alongside the USA and 2012 winners Canada, for the overall title of Winter Sports king.

The top ten Winter Sports ranking so far (with points and change vs March 2012) is