The secret of Norway....

By Research Desk
about 10 years ago

It would come as no surprise to know that Norway might end up sweeping most of the medals at Sochi. The topography of the country and the way in which people there lead their lives is in itself an indication of their win.

For example take this place in Norway – Trøndelag. More than 20% of Norway’s Olympics medals come from this region though the population from this region accounts for just 8% of total population of Norway. In the previous Olympics in 2010 at Vancouver, out of the nine medals won by Norway, eight come from Trøndelag. Entire Norway has a population of around five million people and the country holds the crown of winning the maximum Winter Olympics medals at 305, the highest by a country. Many say that given the almost 9 long months of winter, year round snow, people there are used to the cold, skiing  and walking long miles through snow, so many justify this medal tally on their physiological make-up, which has got used to the cold and the snow of the region. But then if that was true, we should see the same results from Sweden, which does have a decent score but not as much as Norway.

So what’s the secret of Norway? Many say that it is the spirit of the people – they strongly live by the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. Thus before age 6, Norwegian kids can only train but not formally compete in sports, and before age 11, all children participating in a competition must be awarded the same prize. Sports comes ahead of education and children are encouraged to play outdoors even on the coldest days. Also they are introduced to various types of skiing which most of the world does not even know about thus competing in games and winning becomes easier. In a lot of way, it is the culture and life style of most Norwegians which makes them into winners, just like Kenya produces some of the world’s best athletes. Wonder what culture our poor performing cricket team of India follows? Only money?

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