America and the Olympics

I was wondering, again, as I do every four years, why nations like Norway, with a population of about 5 million, can outperform America, with a population of 350 million or so.  Are we that much more decadent and lazy?  This was my question.

But as I ponder more, it occurs to me our cultural sports priorities are completely different.  It is quite likely there are more competitive cross country skiiers in Norway than there are here.  It is a certainty there are more biathletes.  Same with Nordic Combined, ski jumping, and frankly most of the sports in the Olympics.  Have you ever seen a luge track?  I haven’t.

This thought makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing.

I would add that more generally Americans value a small number of sports, where we put the overwhelming bulk of our effort, where we spend our money, and which attract our best athletes.  I mean football, baseball, and basketball.  Even track and field, which we don’t ignore, is vastly more important and valued in other countries.