In an op-ed published recently in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Alfred University President Mark Zupan discusses the incredible success the country of Norway has achieved in the Winter Olympic Games.
Zupan’s piece—titled “What is Norway’s secret sauce at Olympics”—appeared in the Sunday, March 8, issue of the Democrat and Chronicle.
In the essay, Zupan notes that Norway has won 446 Winter Olympic medals all-time—nearly 80 more than second-place United States—but claimed only a combined three gold medals during consecutive Games in 1984 and 1988. After those two Winter Games, Norway set out to improve on its performance. “Since that dismal showing, the country has invested heavily in Olympiatoppen, an organization devoted to recruiting and training Olympic athletes, arguably Norway’s second-most valuable resource,” Zupan wrote.
As Zupan noted, Norway did not simply spend its way to Olympic success. “Olympiatoppen facilities are modest. Youth sports are organized to be affordable for everyone, with a priority on fun over winning, and kids are discouraged from specializing (in a sport) too early.”
Norway went from earning no gold medals at the 1988 Calgary Games to winning the overall medal count, including 10 golds, at the 1994 Winter Games it hosted in Lillehammer. At this year’s Games in Milan-Cortina, Norway won 41 medals, including 18 golds, a record for a single Olympics. Norway’s dominance is made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is one of the smaller nations to compete in the Olympics. On a per capita basis, the Scandinavian country earned a medal for every 135,122 residents, a rate three times better than second-place Switzerland.
Zupan said Norway’s Olympiatoppen approach to turning out world-class athletes who have consistently enjoyed tremendous Olympic success over the last four decades may offer some insight on how nations can succeed with respect to educational and economic outcomes.
“Namely, are cultures more likely to be winning ones when they promote broad-based participation and agency over expensive facilities?” he wrote. “When they discourage specialization while encouraging broader-based interests across their members? And when they focus on fun versus winning?”