Bryan Graham was in the arena in Milan on Sunday. You can read his full report below:
So the USA will finish with 12 gold medals in Italy, two more than their previous best of 10 (Salt Lake 2002) and three more than their best away from home.
Canada wraps up with five, just one more than their 21st century nadir four years ago in Beijing. And one of those five went to a team (men’s curling) that disturbed the genteel nature of its sport. The 21 total medals are also the lowest since 2002.
But the real winner of these Games was surely Italy. Just 20 years after showing an indifferent face and forgettable performance in Turin, Italy brought enthusiastic fans and dynamic athletes who claimed 30 medals, 10 of them gold. The only countries that won more were the USA and Norway – which, like the Netherlands, continued to prove the old adage that you should never bet against a country in a sport that they consider a mode of transportation.
Thanks for following along with us. Enjoy the Closing Ceremony and pretend you don’t have to go back to work tomorrow without any curling and snowboarding to follow.
