The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) set a goal of 15 medals ahead of the Games in Milano Cortina, a goal that has already been surpassed ahead of the last day of the Olympics.
You can almost exclusively thank the Swedish women for that.
Of the 17 medals secured, the women have won 14, the men only two – in addition to the Wranå siblings' mixed gold in curling.
"You can see it as the men not having succeeded, but I choose to see it as our girls having succeeded incredibly well," says Fredrik Joulamo.
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"We have also had some top positions for some men. For example, Walter Wallberg was fourth, Jesper Tjäder was fifth in slopestyle. They did not win any medals, but they were in contention."
“Heaven and Hell”
The clearest example is the weakness in the cross-country skiing team, where the large difference in performance has also become a challenge for the leaders. The women have won nine medals so far. The men haven't even come close.
"It really will be heaven and hell. One moment we get to grips with what happened on Sunday (the men's relay), while the next day it will be medal celebrations. So it's really different worlds. But we are still a team," said national team manager Anders Byström earlier during the Olympics.
For the Swedish Olympic women as a whole, their efforts in northern Italy follow a clear trend. In five consecutive Winter Games – 1972 to 1988 – they did not win a single medal. Pernilla Wiberg broke the medal drought with her giant slalom gold in 1992, and since then the curve has been pointing steadily upwards. In three consecutive Winter Olympics, the women have now broken the previous medal record, this year by a wide margin.
“Equal investment”
There is even a small chance of winning the women's medal league in the entire Olympics, if there is Swedish gold in both the long-distance cross-country event and curling today (the women's curling team will take silver at worst).
"Compared to parts of the world, we probably have a very equal investment. From the SOK's side, we make no difference at all in the investment that we offer, my feeling is that it is the same in our special sports associations as well. It is of course a factor that contributes to our being able to compete at the top," says Fredrik Joulamo.
He doesn't want to make any big claims about the difference between the women's and men's performances. As recently as the last Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022, the medal distribution was significantly more even, albeit with a slight advantage for the women.
"In retrospect, we will of course evaluate and see if we can do anything differently. But it's more on an individual level, not boys versus girls," says Fredrik Joulamo.
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In 1968, Toini Gustafsson won two gold medals in skiing and was part of the team that also won a medal in the relay. Then a long medal drought followed until 1992, when the positive trend began.
Number of medals per Winter Games (for 2026, the women's curling medal is included - it will be either gold or silver today):
1992, Albertville: 1
1994, Lillehammer: 2
1998, Nagano: 2
2002, Salt Lake City: 5
2006, Turin: 9
2010, Vancouver: 5
2014, Sochi: 6
2018, Pyeongchang: 10
2022, Beijing: 10.5 (medal in mixed curling counts as half)
2026, Milano Cortina: 14.5 (medal in mixed curling counts as half)
