First Winter Olympic Gold Medal Winners from Each Country
Over 40 countries have won at least one gold medal at the Winter Olympics (many more have won gold at the Summer Olympics). We have compiled a list of the first gold medal winners (male or female) from each country. For some countries, there were numerous gold medallists at the same Olympiad, and in these cases, we have looked closely at the events and dates and tried to determine which of the athletes won their medal first.
| Country | Year | Sport | Event | Athlete |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2002 | Short Track Speed Skating | 1,000 m, Men | Steven Bradbury |
| Austria | 1924 | Figure Skating | Singles, Women | Herma Planck-Szabo |
| Belarus | 2010 | Freestyle Skiing | Aerials, Men | Aliaksei Hryshyn |
| Belgium | 1948 | Figure Skating | Pairs, Mixed | Micheline Lannoy / Pierre Baugniet |
| Bulgaria | 1998 | Biathlon | 15 km, Women | Ekaterina Dafovska |
| Canada | 1924 | Ice Hockey | Ice Hockey, Men | Canada |
| China | 2002 | Short Track Speed Skating | 500 m, Women | Yang Yang (A) |
| Croatia | 2002 | Alpine Skiing | Combined, Women | Janica Kostelić |
| Czechia | 1998 | Ice Hockey | Ice Hockey, Men | Czech Republic |
| Estonia | 2002 | Cross Country Skiing | 15 km, Men | Andrus Veerpalu |
| Finland | 1924 | Speed Skating | 5,000 m, Men | Clas Thunberg |
| France | 1928 | Figure Skating | Pairs, Mixed | Andrée Joly / Pierre Brunet |
| Germany | 1936 | Alpine Skiing | Combined, Women | Christl Cranz |
| Great Britain | 1924 | Curling | Curling, Men | Great Britain |
| Hungary | 2018 | Short Track Speed Skating | 5,000 m Relay, Men | Hungary |
| Italy | 1948 | Skeleton | Skeleton, Men | Nino Bibbia |
| Japan | 1972 | Ski Jumping | Normal Hill, Individual, Men | Yukio Kasaya |
| Kazakhstan | 1994 | Cross Country Skiing | 50 km, Men | Vladimir Smirnov |
| Korea (South) | 1992 | Short Track Speed Skating | 1,000 m, Men | Kim Gi-Hun |
| Latvia | 2014 | Bobsleigh | Four, Men | Latvia 1 |
| Liechtenstein | 1980 | Alpine Skiing | Giant Slalom, Women | Hanni Wenzel |
| Netherlands | 1964 | Figure Skating | Singles, Women | Sjoukje Dijkstra |
| Norway | 1924 | Cross Country Skiing | 50 km, Men | Thorleif Haug |
| Poland | 1972 | Ski Jumping | Large Hill, Individual, Men | Wojciech Fortuna |
| Russia | 1994 | Speed Skating | 500 m, Men | Aleksandr Golubev |
| Slovakia | 2010 | Biathlon | 7.5 km Sprint, Women | Anastasia Kuzmina |
| Slovenia | 2014 | Alpine Skiing | Downhill, Women | Tina Maze |
| Soviet Union | 1956 | Cross Country Skiing | 10 km, Women | Lyubov Kozyreva |
| Spain | 1972 | Alpine Skiing | Slalom, Men | Francisco Fernández Ochoa |
| Sweden | 1924 | Figure Skating | Singles, Men | Gillis Grafström |
| Switzerland | 1924 | Military Ski Patrol | Military Ski Patrol, Men | Switzerland |
| Ukraine | 1994 | Figure Skating | Singles, Women | Oksana Baiul |
| USA | 1924 | Speed Skating | 500 m, Men | Charley Jewtraw |
| Uzbekistan | 1994 | Freestyle Skiing | Aerials, Women | Lina Cheryazova |
Related Pages
- All Time Medal Tally — total medals won for every country
- The Number of Medal Events over Time at the Winter Olympics.
- Available Winter Olympic Medals — a discussion about how many Winter Olympic medals are available to be won.
- Winter Olympians — profiles of great athletes from the Winter Olympics
- First Summer Olympic Gold Medal Winners from Each Country
- Summer Olympics Medal Tally Leading Countries
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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