Winter Olympics are a in interesting study of what countries focus on both culturally and governmental focus. Norway has its citizens skiing from a crazy young age. This is such a focus that all...
Winter Olympics are a in interesting study of what countries focus on both culturally and governmental focus.
Norway has its citizens skiing from a crazy young age. This is such a focus that all their athletic pipeline is focused almost entirely on these efforts. Every cross country event has Norway dominating the podium because majority of their athletic population is focused on it.
In a similar contrast, ive enjoyed watching Canada's version of this being with skating sports. All the athletic kids here grow up wanting to be hockey players and it shows with both the Mens and Womens teams being powerhouses, but the ones who don't make the cut find homes in other similar sports, particularly speed skating where Canada is a perpetual competitor. The only one they aren't heavy hitting on is figure skating and thats because it requires a different growth focus path from a young age.
Then you have the Germans who cornered the market on sliding sports (Luge, Skeleton and Bobsled) in such a way that nobody can really compare without crazy amounts of investment.
I could go on and on but the conclusion is that winter sports are wild.
Winter Olympics are a in interesting study of what countries focus on both culturally and governmental focus.
Norway has its citizens skiing from a crazy young age. This is such a focus that all their athletic pipeline is focused almost entirely on these efforts. Every cross country event has Norway dominating the podium because majority of their athletic population is focused on it.
In a similar contrast, ive enjoyed watching Canada's version of this being with skating sports. All the athletic kids here grow up wanting to be hockey players and it shows with both the Mens and Womens teams being powerhouses, but the ones who don't make the cut find homes in other similar sports, particularly speed skating where Canada is a perpetual competitor. The only one they aren't heavy hitting on is figure skating and thats because it requires a different growth focus path from a young age.
Then you have the Germans who cornered the market on sliding sports (Luge, Skeleton and Bobsled) in such a way that nobody can really compare without crazy amounts of investment.
I could go on and on but the conclusion is that winter sports are wild.
Watching the speed skating is funny because it seems like every skater the commentators bring up some story of how they transitioned from hockey.