"Sigulda district is ranked first in the world by the number of winter Olympic medals per inhabitant," the council website points out.

Sigulda has 18,677 inhabitants, according to the data of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, currently accounting for about 1% of the total population of the country, yet a total of 10 Olympic Winter Games medals won during the last three Winter Olympic Games. That's one medal per 1867 inhabitants, thus taking first place in the world.



The Norwegian region of Trondelag, which has 400,000 inhabitants, about 8% of the total population in the country, is second with 30 Olympic Winter Sport medals, thus earning one medal per 13,333 people.

On a national basis the top ranking is Finland with one medal per 17,904 people, Sweden with 19,649 people per medal, and Hungary with a medal for each 20,792 inhabitants.



Starting with the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, Sigulda has taken part in all the subsequent Winter Olympics, and in the last two games local boys Martins and Tomass Dukurs, Andris and Juris Šics, as well as Janis Strenga have won two gold, three silver and five bronze medals.



"These statistics can not be called luck or coincidence!" Says Uģis Mitrevics, the chairman of the Sigulda Local Government Council.

He's quite right, as the presence of a massive bobsled track in the town probably has something to do with it.



And perhaps even more Olympic glory beckons as the possibility is being explored that Sigulda might provide facilities for a Swedish bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2026, as previously reported by LSM.