Athletes and the sports commentators swirling around then in Lillehammer will credit medal performances to all of these things.

In addition to the medal performances the team had seven top ten finishes.

Women, once shunted aside, are now actively competing in most of these sports; the nation celebrated the medal performance of its Olympic athletes.

The United States, runners-up in the competition, also took eleven gold medals, but had a lesser haul overall with 17 medal performances.

"I thought I would come out with one, so this has been great," Pastrana said of his medal performance.

In that sense, money they would otherwise earn for medal performances is returned to the state.

Gold medal performance?

He also competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but could not match his bronze medal winning performance from Sydney and gained a 6th place in the final.

This term is named after Michael Chack, whose bronze medal winning performance at the U.S. Championships was not aired on television.

Australia's first medal performance at the Intercontinental Cup (and their first medal at a world tournament) was at the 1997 tournament.