The US moved away from its heartland to set a Winter Olympics high in Italy

Other nations are catching up with the US in its traditional strengths such as snowboarding. But that's not necessarily a bad thing for Americans

In 2002, on home ice and snow in Utah, the USA obliterated its records for most gold medals (10, beating the previous high of six) and most overall medals (34, more than two times the previous high of 13) by the country in a single Winter Olympics.

In 2026, the USA broke that national record for gold medals with 12, and broke the 30-medal mark for the first time outside North America (Norway broke the overall record with 18 golds).