Who Has Won the Most Winter Olympic Medals of All Time?

A look at the all-time medal leaders from the Winter Olympics.

Ireen Wust is one of the most decorated Winter Olympians. | Rob Schumacher-Imagn Images

The 2026 Winter Olympics will offer plenty of opportunities for athletes to take home medals and add to their medal counts.

Over 100 years ago, a total of 50 medals were handed out at the first Winter Olympics in 1924. As the Games have grown over the century since, more sports and events have been added to the Olympics and more medals have been awarded. This year, there are well over 100 medal events at the Winter Olympics.

Before the Milan Cortina Games begin, here’s a look at the all-time medal leaders in the Winter Olympics.

Which nation has won the most Winter Olympic medals?

Here is a list of the all-time leaders in Winter Olympic medals by nation, ranked by their total medals.

Nation	Total Medals	Total Golds	Total Silvers	Total Bronzes
Norway	405	148	134	123
United States	330	114	121	95
Germany	267	105	97	65
Austria	250	71	88	91
Canada	225	77	72	76
Soviet Union	194	78	57	59
Sweden	176	65	51	60
Switzerland	168	63	47	58
Netherlands	147	53	49	45
Russia	120	46	39	35

No country has been more successful at the Winter Olympics than Norway, which is the all-time leader in total medals, gold medals, silver medals and bronze medals at the Winter Olympics. Since the inaugural Winter Games in 1924 when they won 17 of 50 medals, Norway has been among the top medal-getting nations at the Winter Olympics. They have taken home the most medals at each of the last three Winter Olympic Games.

Only the top-five countries have accumulated at least 200 medals at the Winter Olympics: Norway, the United States, Germany, Austria and Canada. Norway and the U.S. are the only nations with at least 300 total medals and Norway, the United States and Germany are the only countries with at least 100 gold medals.

In comparison, the United States ranks No. 1 by far in all-time medals at the Summer Olympics. The other top-five medalists all-time at the Summer Olympic Games are the former Soviet Union (No. 2), Great Britain (No. 3), France (No. 4) and China (No. 5).

Which athletes have won the most medals at the Winter Olympics?

Here is the list of all-time leaders in individual medals at the Winter Olympics. In the case of ties, athletes with more golds are ranked higher.

Athlete	Nation	Total Medals	Total Golds	Sport	No. of Olympics
1. Marit Bjørgen	Norway	15	8	Cross Country Skiing	5
2. Ole Einar Bjørndalen	Norway	14	8	Biathlon	6
3. Ireen Wüst	Netherlands	13	6	Speed Skating	5
4. Bjørn Dæhlie	Norway	12	8	Cross Country Skiing	4
5. Arianna Fontana	Italy	11	2	Short-track Speed Skating	5
6. Raisa Smetanina	Soviet Union/Unified Team	10	4	Cross Country Skiing	5
7. Stefania Belmondo	Italy	10	2	Cross Country Skiing	5
8. Lyubov Yegorova	Unified Team/Russia	9	6	Cross Country Skiing	3
T-9. Claudia Pechstein	Germany	9	5	Speed Skating	5
T-9. Johannes Thingnes Bø	Norway	9	5	Biathlon	3

Norway’s Marit Bjørgen is the all-time leader in medals at the Winter Olympics. She competed in cross country skiing at the 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 Olympics, winning medals in the 10-km, pursuit, 30-km, sprint, relay and team sprint. Though Bjørgen only won two silvers during her first two Olympic appearances, she garnered 13 medals—including eight gold—across her final three Winter Olympics.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway is the all-time leader in medalists at the Winter Olympics among male athletes. He won 14 medals over six Olympic appearances in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. His most successful performance came in Salt Lake City in ‘02, when he won four gold medals.

Notably, five of the top 10 all-time individual medalists competed in cross country skiing. Cross country skiing is one of the oldest sports of the Games and has a number of medal events, allowing for athletes competing in the sport to accumulate more medals.

Though the United States is second in total medals at the Winter Olympics, none of their athletes rank in the top-10 in individual medals. Of American athletes, short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno has the most medals from the Winter Olympics with eight total including two golds, two silvers and four bronzes.

---