With five gold medals, 24 total medals and a slew of impressive performances from debutants and veterans alike, the Milano Cortina Olympics were a banner Winter Games for Team Japan.

Most striking is that Japan¡¯s success comes just two decades after Japanese athletes had back-to-back Winter Olympics in which they earned just three total medals.

The 24-medal haul ranked Japan fifth among all countries, while the number of gold placed the country in a tie for ninth and matched Japan¡¯s all-time high at a Winter Olympics, set at the 1998 Nagano Games.