Medal Count predictions: How many will the United States win?
By Zach Bigalke
Unlike the Summer Olympics, the United States doesn’t always dominate the medal count at the Winter Games. How many medals will the US win in Pyeongchang?
Only once in the previous 22 Winter Olympics has the United States finished atop both the gold medal count and the number of total medals won. That occurred in 1932, the first time that Lake Placid, New York hosted the Winter Games.
That result was an anomaly. The United States usually fields the largest team in the Winter Olympics. For the manpower the country brings to each Olympiad, however, other national squads are able to compete on a level playing field. That is due to the infrastructural investment that comes with a greater interest in winter sports.
In general, however, the history of American participation in the Winter Olympics has been far less dominant than their record in the Summer Games. The United States wins on average 10 percent of the gold medals available. They also bring home just over 10 percent of the total medals on offer.
American Winter Olympics Medal Count by Year
| YEAR | RK | G | S | B | T | GOLDS | MEDALS | % GOLD | % MDLS |
| 2014 | 5th | 9 | 7 | 12 | 28 | 95 | 282 | 9.5% | 9.9% |
| 2010 | 3rd | 9 | 15 | 13 | 37 | 86 | 258 | 10.5% | 14.3% |
| 2006 | 2nd | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 | 84 | 252 | 10.7% | 9.9% |
| 2002 | 3rd | 10 | 13 | 11 | 34 | 80 | 234 | 12.5% | 14.5% |
| 1998 | 5th | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 69 | 205 | 8.7% | 6.3% |
| 1994 | 5th | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 61 | 183 | 9.8% | 7.1% |
| 1992 | 5th | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 57 | 171 | 8.8% | 6.4% |
| 1988 | 9th | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 46 | 138 | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| 1984 | 3rd | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 39 | 117 | 10.3% | 6.8% |
| 1980 | 3rd | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 38 | 115 | 15.8% | 10.4% |
| 1976 | 3rd | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 37 | 111 | 8.1% | 9.0% |
| 1972 | 5th | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 105 | 8.3% | 7.6% |
| 1968 | 9th | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 35 | 106 | 2.9% | 6.6% |
| 1964 | 8th | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 34 | 104 | 2.9% | 6.7% |
| 1960 | 3rd | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 28 | 81 | 10.7% | 12.3% |
| 1956 | 6th | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 25 | 72 | 8.0% | 9.7% |
| 1952 | 2nd | 4 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 22 | 67 | 18.2% | 16.4% |
| 1948 | 4th | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 22 | 68 | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 1936 | 8th | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 51 | 5.9% | 7.8% |
| 1932 | 1st | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 42 | 42.9% | 28.6% |
| 1928 | 2nd | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 41 | 14.3% | 14.6% |
| 1924 | 5th | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 49 | 6.3% | 8.2% |
| AVERAGE | 4.4 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 12.8 | 43.4 | 129.6 | 10.1% | 9.9% | |
| 2018 (proj) | 3rd | 10 | 11 | 9 | 30 | 102 | 306 | 10.1% | 9.9% |
As the historical table shows, the United States usually finishes somewhere between third and fifth in the final medal count. Over the past three Winter Olympiads, the American contingent has brought home exactly nine gold medals each time. With the increase of medal events, they have a chance to finish in double digits in the gold medal count in Pyeongchang.
That has only happened once before in Winter Olympics history. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the American squad finished with 10 gold medals at home.
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In total, expect the Americans to snag around 30 medals total. If their historical trends hold close to form, the United States will finish with 10 gold medals. They will also bring home 11 silver medals and nine bronze medals. That would put the Americans third behind Germany and either Norway or the Netherlands.