A certain image of the Winter Olympics persists in the American imagination: a ski-fest ruled by Austrians and Norwegians, with occasional interludes dominated by other cold-weather nations.
It's true: the all-time Winter Olympic medal table is dominated by the Global North, and the Norwegians specifically have topped the medal table in each of the last three Games. However, the Olympic movement has made a concerted effort to promote the growth of winter sports in warmer-weather nations, which has galvanized slow progress toward the Winter Games resembling its more diverse Summer counterpart.
