The XXV Winter Olympic Games from Italy officially begin on Friday, with 92 nations and nearly 3,000 athletes competing. There will be 116 medal events, with new ones including dual moguls in freestyle skiing and luge doubles. However, the most popular sporting events remain ice hockey, figure skating, alpine skiing and snowboarding. Making 2026 Winter Olympics bets on medal count, both overall and gold medals won, will be some of the most popular Olympics predictions for Milano Cortina.
Norway is the favorite to win both the most overall medals (-280) and the most gold medals (-195). The American rank second, in both regards, with +600 Olympic odds to claim the most medals, per FanDuel Sportsbook, with +200 odds to win the most golds. The host Italians come in at +5000 for the most total medals and at +6000 for the most Olympic golds. Switzerland claimed the first gold of the 2026 Games in men's alpine skiing.
Before locking in any 2026 Winter Olympics medal futures or predictions, you NEED to see what SportsLine Olympic expert Mike Tierney has to say.
A national sportswriter whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney has covered nine Olympic Games in person. At Rio in 2016, Tierney profited big-time. He told readers to bet over on Team USA's gold medal count (41.5) and over on Team USA's overall medal count (102.5). The result? 46 golds, 121 medals and two easy cashes. Then, at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Tierney hit two of his three predictions: Germany (+200) to win the most gold medals and the United States winning under 10.5 gold medals (+110).
Now, Tierney has broken down the 2026 Winter Olympics from every possible angle and locked in his medal predictions and best bets.
We can tell you Tierney is predicting Team Norway wins the most Olympic gold medals (-195). "They have topped the gold table at the three previous Games," Tierney said of the Norwegians. "In world championship events across all sports last year, they accumulated 17 golds, two more than runner-up United States - and considerably more than anyone else."
Tierney has three other top picks, all plus-money bets, including a longshot prop that returns over +2000!
So who wins the most overall medals at Milano Cortina, and which Olympic prop of over +2000 should you be all over? Join SportsLine now to see the picks and best bets from the 2026 Winter Olympics, and find out!
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Written by Ross Kelly
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