The United States will be represented by 242 athletes in Pyeongchang. Who will challenge the largest national team in the medal count in the 2018 Olympics?
With the largest contingent of athletes representing any nation, the United States Olympic team is always among the top medal winners in the Winter Olympics. But the United States does not always manage to finish atop the medal count at the Winter Games.
The Americans always bring a deep and talented team to the Olympics in many events. They may not always have the favorite in a given event, but the United States traditionally has been competitive in most disciplines.
The American team regularly finishes with nine gold medals and somewhere between two and three dozen total medals. The United States should have no trouble factoring in the race to finish atop the medal count. Whether they manage to take that top spot for the first time since 1932, though, will depend on several factors.
So, who has the best shot at overtaking the United States?
In 2014, the US team finished second in total medals behind the Netherlands. The Americans were in a tie for fourth in gold medals. With a strong contingent especially in speed skating, which features medals at numerous distances, the Dutch side could once again threaten to finish atop the medal count.
Four years earlier in Vancouver, the US team led the way with 37 total medals. Only nine, however, were gold. The host Canadians finished atop the gold medal count with 14 victories. Germany led the way in Torino in 2006, which means it has now been 16 years since the Americans last led in both gold medals and total medals.
Both the Canadians and Germans will have a shot to overtake the US squad. So will Scandinavian hopeful Norway, even with legends Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Petter Northug failing to make the 2018 team.
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Russia is banned from the 2018 Winter Games. That opens the door for several countries to vault up the medal count. The Americans will face plenty of pressure as they try to finish atop both medal counts for the first time in over eight decades, which they last accomplished on home soil at the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid.