Canada's Winter Olympics legacy shows medal totals and changing team makeup.

Team Canada arrives at the Milano–Cortina Games with 206 athletes, seeking to improve on a 2022 performance that produced 26 total medals but only four golds.

Canada is entering the Milano–Cortina Winter Games in Italy with a reputation as a Winter Olympics powerhouse. After 2022 produced a high total medal count but a 30-year low in gold medals, the team is seeking better finishes atop the podium. The delegation includes 206 athletes, second only to the United States, and more than half of those athletes are competing at their first Winter Games. The team also sends a historic number of female athletes, while coaching staff are projected to be about 10 per cent women. Key facts: - In the 2022 Beijing Games, Canada won 26 medals, one more than the United States, and trailed Norway (37), Russian athletes (32) and Germany (27). - Team Canada's gold medal count in 2022 was four, leaving it behind ten other countries in gold medals. - Norway led in total medals and golds in 2022 and ranked highly on a per-capita basis; Slovenia ranked highest when medals are measured against GDP. - Over recent decades Canada has generally been among the top five Winter Games medal earners but has never finished higher than third overall. - Canada is sending 206 athletes to Milano–Cortina, with more than half first-time Olympians; women now outnumber men on the team, while about 10 per cent of coaches are women (projected). - In hockey, Canada has nine Olympic men's golds (historically tied with Russia); no athletes are competing under the Russian flag at these Games, and Canada’s women’s team has won all but two golds since the event began in 1998. Summary: Canada remains a strong presence in Winter Olympic competition and is aiming to translate recent high medal totals into more gold medals. Statistical models project about 27 medals and a fourth-place finish for these Games, and the opening ceremony is reported to be on Friday.