Norway has a very active lifestyle, including among children, and strong cultural support for sports (and chess, which is massively popular). We’ve always done great at the Winter Olympics, but only recently had so many very top performers across these other endeavors. Maybe there is some genetic component but I think it’s largely due to environmental aspects.
They also have the best triathletes in the world (currently) and the best Arctic explorers - e.g. Amundsen. Not to mention great viking contributions to the British culture and population during the Danelaw.
Danes and Norwegians were very close. Were for centuries united in one kingdom.
But you are right that the the part of Eastern England known as Danelaw was populated by Danes. Danish kings Sven Tveskæg (two beards) and his son Knud den store (Canut the great) and more ruled The whole of England from 1013 to 1042.
By the way: The Normans who conquered England after the battle at Hastings in 1066 had only lived in Normandy for some few generations. They were also Norsemen probably mainly from Denmark who had got Normandy from the French king to protect against other vikings´assault on France..
Erling Haaland: one of the best footballers in the world
Magnus Carlsen: easily the greatest chess player of all time
Casper Ruud: one of the best tennis players in the world
Ruxton Towers XC wrote: They also have the best triathletes in the world (currently) and the best Arctic explorers - e.g. Amundsen.
No one smart cares about these sports. We also don't care about cross-country skiers (though the same applies to alpine skiing and ski jumping). Amundsen it was in 1911, really long time ago
Steffe wrote: They are not busy with clown "sports" like American football or baseball.
That is truth. No one smart cares about these sports too, basketball., golf and hockey included. But the same applies to cricket, rugby and horse racing.
But at the end of the day everyone has to search deeply for the athletics sub-page in the online editions of the main newspaper titles in both in the US, UK and many other countries.
Danes and Norwegians were very close. Were for centuries united in one kingdom.
But you are right that the the part of Eastern England known as Danelaw was populated by Danes. Danish kings Sven Tveskæg (two beards) and his son Knud den store (Canut the great) and more ruled The whole of England from 1013 to 1042.
By the way: The Normans who conquered England after the battle at Hastings in 1066 had only lived in Normandy for some few generations. They were also Norsemen probably mainly from Denmark who had got Normandy from the French king to protect against other vikings´assault on France..
Isn't it strange that Norway, a country with less than half the population of Ohio has produced:
Erling Haaland: one of the best footballers in the world
Magnus Carlsen: easily the greatest chess player of all time
Jakob Ingebrigsten: one of the greatest distance runners of all time
Karsten Warholm: the greatest 400h of all time
Casper Ruud: one of the best tennis players in the world
Like come on, you don't see this much talent coming out of countries 10x Norway's size.
I think our social system means that we get to utilize close to 100% of our talent pool. We don't have large parts of our population in poverty and thus unable to pursue their interests. But this generation has truly been unique.
Isn't it strange that Norway, a country with less than half the population of Ohio has produced:
Erling Haaland: one of the best footballers in the world
Magnus Carlsen: easily the greatest chess player of all time
Jakob Ingebrigsten: one of the greatest distance runners of all time
Karsten Warholm: the greatest 400h of all time
Casper Ruud: one of the best tennis players in the world
Like come on, you don't see this much talent coming out of countries 10x Norway's size.
Ok, you may have an argument for any of these with Ruud being an uncemented world top player. He's ranked #4 now, thanks to the recent tournament but he is on a similar level as Tsitsipas and Rune. Clear separation between him and top 3 guys.
Give me 20 1500m and up runners you belive is greater than Jakob, or atleast list 10
Edwins win streak is not a great measure greatness. He often awoided the best competitors outside of championships and alot of those wins are 49 seconds + which is jogging pace for warholm.
Ruud is definitly not the best, but being in 3 grand slam finals in a year makes you one of the best even tho he can't seem to win.
I'ḿ not saying that Norway is "weak" at team sports. But:
Men's Football: They're really good in women's football. In Mens football, as a team, they're irrelevant (Beyond Haaland and also Oodegard) at world stage.
Men's and women's basketball: irrelevant at world stage.
Men's and women's Volleyball: Irrelevant at world stage.
Men's and women's Rugby: irrelevant at world stage.
Men's and women's field hockey: irrelevant at world stage.
Men's and women's handball: They're world elite.
Men's and women's softball: irrelevant at world stage.
Men's and women's Ice hockey: Top 12 and 13 in the world, respectively.
Well, I was sort of just joking around. Nobody thinks Norway (or Denmark) is a dominant superpower or something. The thesis of this thread was that they out-perform expectations based on their population size. That is true. Some cultures are special like that. I would argue Norway falls into that category, which is why I agree with the OP even though some of the examples are a stretch.
p.s. Amundsen is the GOAT Arctic explorer though. It doesn't matter that his exploits are from over 100 years ago. That only makes it more impressive!
Yes, Norway is a great country, no doubt, as far as sport is concerned. But talking numbers, it looks like metrics such as "a number of Olympics medals per 1 mln of population" would be more correct than mentioning particular individuals. And there, I am not sure that Norway would be ahead of Australia or the Netherlands.
On the social side, my feeling is that sport is simply a very good way for the youth to avoid bore in the depressive northern climate. And finally: they do not work hard there and have more free time than guys in many other European countries and the US. I worked for quite sometime with Norwegian hi-tech companies and was really shocked at the beginning seeing people coming to work at 9 a.m. and leaving before 4 p.m. even when we had joint intensive testing campaign.