I have been so psyched about the Winter Olympics this year. I never used to pay all that much attention to the winter sports. Growing up, I really only paid attention to the Summer Olympics. Over the last few years, that has all changed. I’ve started watching the games and following some of the best Winter Olympic Athletes.
I just finished reading through a huge amount of information about some of the top athletes ever to compete in winter sports. Some of what I found has been incredible so I thought I’d take the chance to put it all down here so you’ll be able to discover it all in one place.
Here are some of the best Winter Olympic athletes I came across while taking my trip through Google’s search results over the last while.
• Ole Einar Bjørndalen (Norway) – Bjørndalen has won a total of 13 medals in the Winter Olympics, making him the Winter Olympian to have won the most total medals to date. Beyond his glory in those games, he has also won an outstanding 45 Biathalon World medals, making him the most successful there as well. He seems to like to shake things up in terms of his training as he also sometimes competes in cross-country skiing, as well. He was the first male biathlete ever to win a cross-country competition, having done so at the 2006 FIS Cross-Country World Cup race in Gällivare, Sweden. He also holds the title as the only biathlete to have won every single event within the same Winter Olympic Games.
• Bjorn Dæhlie (Norway) – Dæhlie has won 12 Winter Olympic medals. They are included in the 29 total Olympics and World Championships medals he won in the years spanning 1991 through 1999. This has made him the most successful cross-country skier in world history, securing him among the best Winter Olympic athletes of all time.
• Raisa Smetanina (USSR) – Smetanina is the first woman ever to have won 10 Winter Olympic medals. She is a cross country skier who managed to win two gold medals and one silver just in the 1976 Olympics Games.
• Stefenia Belmondo (Italy) – Belmondo has since tied Smetanina for having 10 Winter Olympic medals. She earned five bronze, three silver and two gold medals in cross country. She still holds the title as the Italian Olympian with the most medals. At the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, Belmondo, one of the best Winter Olympic athletes, lit the Olympic Flame at the opening ceremony.