Norway Wins March Global Cup Ranking
March 2019 was the year’s first bumper sporting month, with 7,999 GSN points awarded. Norway won the monthly Global Cup ranking, ahead of Russia and Germany (see full table below), thanks to a dominant performance in Snow & Ice sports, which altogether accounted for 70.6% of all points on offer in March.
The month’s other main point-scoring sport was Track Cycling, whose World Championships were narrowly won by Australia (252 points) ahead of last year’s winners the Netherlands (238 points ) and Germany.
Global Cup – March 2019 monthly ranking
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
1
|
Norway
|
1,037
|
13.0%
|
2
|
Russia
|
659
|
8.2%
|
3
|
Germany
|
650
|
8.1%
|
4
|
Italy
|
573
|
7.2%
|
5
|
France
|
540
|
6.8%
|
6
|
Austria
|
422
|
5.3%
|
7
|
Sweden
|
392
|
4.9%
|
8
|
Netherlands
|
341
|
4.3%
|
9
|
Switzerland
|
327
|
4.1%
|
10
|
United States
|
268
|
3.4%
|
11
|
Australia
|
268
|
3.4%
|
12
|
Japan
|
259
|
3.2%
|
13
|
Ethiopia
|
209
|
2.6%
|
14
|
Great Britain
|
179
|
2.2%
|
15
|
South Korea
|
171
|
2.1%
|
16
|
Canada
|
165
|
2.1%
|
17
|
Kenya
|
157
|
2.0%
|
18
|
Slovakia
|
124
|
1.6%
|
19
|
China
|
115
|
1.4%
|
20
|
Spain
|
99
|
1.2%
|
21
|
Uganda
|
94
|
1.2%
|
22
|
Finland
|
92
|
1.2%
|
23
|
Poland
|
86
|
1.1%
|
24
|
Ukraine
|
84
|
1.1%
|
25
|
Egypt
|
78
|
1.0%
|
26
|
New Zealand
|
76
|
0.9%
|
27
|
Slovenia
|
68
|
0.9%
|
28
|
Czech Republic
|
64
|
0.8%
|
29
|
Hong Kong
|
51
|
0.6%
|
30
|
Denmark
|
49
|
0.6%
|
31
|
Ireland
|
44
|
0.6%
|
32
|
Belgium
|
35
|
0.4%
|
33
|
Latvia
|
32
|
0.4%
|
34
|
Kazakhstan
|
23
|
0.3%
|
35
|
Eritrea
|
20
|
0.3%
|
36
|
Mexico
|
18
|
0.2%
|
37
|
Bulgaria
|
18
|
0.2%
|
38
|
Portugal
|
14
|
0.2%
|
39
|
Bahrain
|
12
|
0.2%
|
40
|
Liechtenstein
|
12
|
0.2%
|
41
|
Hungary
|
11
|
0.1%
|
42
|
Lithuania
|
10
|
0.1%
|
43
|
Greece
|
10
|
0.1%
|
44
|
Burundi
|
8
|
0.1%
|
45
|
Morocco
|
8
|
0.1%
|
46
|
Colombia
|
5
|
0.1%
|
47
|
India
|
5
|
0.1%
|
48
|
Malaysia
|
4
|
0.1%
|
49
|
Trinidad and Tobago
|
4
|
0.1%
|
50
|
Barbados
|
4
|
0.1%
|
51
|
Andorra
|
2
|
0.0%
|
52
|
Belarus
|
2
|
0.0%
|
53
|
Romania
|
1
|
0.0%
|
|
Grand Total
|
7,999
|
100.0%
|
Norway swept the board in most of the month’s Snow & Ice sports events:
- Biathlon: winner of the World Championships and the men’s World Cup
- Cross Country Skiing: winner of the World Championships and the women’s overall World Cup
- Nordic Combined: winner of the World Championships
- Ski Jumping: winner of the women’s World Cup, and fourth in the World Championships (won by Germany).
As a result, the plucky Scandinavians are now leading the Snow & Ice sports ranking (see table below) with a 14.3% share of the points, ahead of Russia and Germany, and are hot favourites for repeating last year’s triumph in this sport group. No country has ever won back-to-back Snow & Ice sports titles in GSN history.
The only two big Snow & Ice tournaments remaining this year are the women’s and men’s Ice Hockey World Championships, respectively in April and May and worth 100 and 120 points respectively to the winners. None of the three top Ice Hockey nations in the last two years, Sweden, the USA and Canada, would manage to upstage Norway in the Snow & Ice sports ranking by winning either or even both tournaments.
Snow & Ice sports – year-to-date ranking as of 31.3.2019
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
1
|
Norway
|
1,234
|
14.3%
|
2
|
Russia
|
875
|
10.1%
|
3
|
Germany
|
740
|
8.5%
|
4
|
Austria
|
693
|
8.0%
|
5
|
Italy
|
650
|
7.5%
|
6
|
France
|
570
|
6.6%
|
7
|
United States
|
519
|
6.0%
|
8
|
Switzerland
|
506
|
5.8%
|
9
|
Sweden
|
489
|
5.6%
|
10
|
Japan
|
336
|
3.9%
|
11
|
Canada
|
325
|
3.7%
|
12
|
Netherlands
|
308
|
3.6%
|
13
|
South Korea
|
203
|
2.3%
|
14
|
Slovakia
|
183
|
2.1%
|
15
|
China
|
157
|
1.8%
|
16
|
Finland
|
132
|
1.5%
|
17
|
Slovenia
|
125
|
1.4%
|
18
|
Czech Republic
|
90
|
1.0%
|
19
|
Ukraine
|
75
|
0.9%
|
20
|
Kazakhstan
|
72
|
0.8%
|
21
|
Spain
|
70
|
0.8%
|
22
|
Poland
|
63
|
0.7%
|
23
|
Latvia
|
53
|
0.6%
|
24
|
Australia
|
45
|
0.5%
|
25
|
Great Britain
|
43
|
0.5%
|
26
|
Belarus
|
21
|
0.2%
|
27
|
Bulgaria
|
20
|
0.2%
|
28
|
Liechtenstein
|
12
|
0.1%
|
29
|
Hungary
|
11
|
0.1%
|
30
|
Belgium
|
11
|
0.1%
|
31
|
Estonia
|
10
|
0.1%
|
32
|
New Zealand
|
9
|
0.1%
|
33
|
Denmark
|
3
|
0.0%
|
34
|
Andorra
|
2
|
0.0%
|
35
|
Romania
|
2
|
0.0%
|
|
Grand Total
|
8,656
|
100.0%
|
Please note that, at the time of publication, the March monthly results were not yet reflected in the tables on the GSN website.