Winter Olympics halfway report

Virtually mid way through the events calendar, it’s time for an assessment of how the country ranking stands, by commenting on a few surprises:

 

a) Russia is outside the top 5, its 7^th position the result of a decent showing in Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon, and peripheral positions in a few other sports; if it had competed as the old Soviet Union, it would jump up to 3^rd place

b) Norway is the only serious challenger of the USA dominance, though it has only scored significant points in 3 sports: Cross Country Skiing, which it leads comfortably, Biathlon and Alpine Skiing

c) There is no Asiatic country among the top ten (China is 11^th), something which we had come to expect in most other tournaments

d)  Host nation Canada scored points in 10 different sports, equalling the USA in this measure of sporting versatility

e) Underachievers: France (9^th place) and Italy (10^th) among the Alpine countries; Japan (14^th ) among the Asians; Finland (15^th) among the Scandinavians.

As for the current leaders USA, they have excelled in Alpine Skiing, thanks to Lindsay Vonn and Bode Miller, and Snowboarding, thanks to Shaun White, but have also picked up useful points in Freestyle Skiing and Short Track, as well as in 6 other sports.