Why the connection holds up
The original synthesis Norwegian sport officials themselves point to is that delaying formal competition does not slow down elite development, it protects the pool of children who stay in sport long enough to be considered for it. A child who never has to post a ranked time at age nine is also a child who is less likely to quit at eleven from burnout or comparison, which means more teenagers are still active and eligible when Olympiatoppen's scouting and development apparatus is ready for them at 13. The dominance at Milano Cortina is the output of a pipeline, not a coincidence of geography.
