The Hard and the Soft of the Norwegians

NYTimes.com: "The United States, a nation of 300 million, won nine gold medals this year in the Winter Olympics. Norway, a nation of 4.7 million, also won nine. This was no anomaly. Over the years, Norwegians have won more gold medals in Winter Games, and more Winter Olympics medals over all, than people from any other nation. There must be many reasons for Norway’s excellence, but some of them are probably embedded in the story of Jan Baalsrud."