USA clinch 2017 Snow & Ice sports title

It was a close-run affair, but in the end the USA have managed to clinch the snow and ice sports title. To the slim advantage they had over Norway, after winning the Women’s Ice Hockey World Championships in April, they added a fifth place in the men’s tournament in May, and sealed victory with a 75-point edge over the surprising Scandinavians, who still finished second, their top result in the last five years.

 

To underscore Norway’s excellent first part of the sporting year, it’s worth noting that, besides topping the Men’s Winter Sports ranking (while the USA have emphatically won the Ladies’), they are currently leading the overall Men’s Global Cup, ahead of France and the USA.

Last year’s Winter Sports kings Canada also put in a late burst, overtaking Germany in third place (see final table below), though their defeat to Sweden in the Men’s Ice Hockey Worlds final meant they didn’t climb above Norway.

 

It was actually a very good year for Scandinavian countries on the snow and ice, with a collective 18.3% share of points, their highest since 2013. The four Alpine countries (France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria) also had a great year, with a record 25.1% share of the points, led by Austria, who finished a very respectable fifth overall (and second in the Men’s ranking) after winning both the Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding titles.

 

And while Germany rose to a five-year best in fourth place, it was Russia who lost out, finishing well outside the top three for the first time in the last four years.

They scored a four-season low 164 points in Ice Hockey and were well below par in Figure Skating, which they won last year, and the overall sixth-place finish was their worst performance since GSN records began.