Minnesota has 19 athletes participating in the Winter Olympics for Team USA. Tied for the second most athletes of any state, Minnesota lives up to its reputation of excelling in winter sports. 20 people represent California while another 19 come from Colorado. An amazing 11 of the 19 Minnesotans are in Sochi to play hockey, including the Wild’s Minnesota-born star, Zach Parise. Another five Minnesotans will compete in curling. The other three athletes uniquely represent Minnesota in their sports; Minnesota has one athlete competing in each of cross-country skiing, the biathlon, and speed skating.

Most of our neighboring states do not have nearly as many Olympians as Minnesota, despite sharing a climate that allows for the prevalence of winter sports. Wisconsin has good representation with 15 athletes, but aside from that, our northern Midwest has only a few athletes per state. There are two people from North Dakota in the games this year, one from Iowa, and none from South Dakota.

Accounting for differences in population size makes for an easier comparison between states. On a per capita basis, Vermont has the most Olympians in 2014.  The state has 13 Olympic athletes competing in 2014 despite a population of only about 625,000 people. Minnesota ranks sixth in the population-adjusted standings.