Winter Olympics behemoth Norway is in a state of disorder after several gold medal hopefuls caught COVID

• Norway was expected to finish the 2022 Winter Olympics at the top of the medal table.
• However, after a spate of positive COVID-19 tests, the team is in a state of disorder.

The heavily favored Norwegian Winter Olympic team is in a state of uncertainty after being hit by a wave of positive COVID-19 tests that have ruled out a number of its star athletes.

Reigning men's Nordic combined world champion Jarl Magnus Riiber was announced as the team's latest casualty on Thursday, with a number of his teammates also being identified as close contacts.

Riiber is expected to miss the men's individual normal hill event on Wednesday, with the 24-year-old requiring two negative tests to leave isolation.

Confirming his positive test, he wrote on Instagram: "The [gold] is yours, guys," adding a wink face.

Joergen Graabak, Espen Andersen, and Espen Bjoernstad have all been deemed close contact cases and will also have to enter isolation, where they will be tested every day while training alone.

Snowboarder Mons Røisland, who sat close to Riiber on a flight to Beijing, is also considered a close contact.

Norway's Nordic combined team manager Ivar Stuan told reporters, according to Inside The Games, that it was his worst day as a coach.

"It is a rather absurd situation to know that Jarl is not in place in the first competition in the Olympics, at least," said Stuan. "We have had an infection regime for two years, and have really only tightened it harder and harder.

"It is a fantastic athlete and boy who does everything right. Then he is unlucky, as he has been for much of his career."

Riiber's positive test comes after cross-country skiers Heidi Weng and Anne Kjersti Kalvå tested positive last week.

Fellow cross-country skiers Johannes Thingnes Boe and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold were confirmed as close contacts on Thursday, reports Inside The Games, while ski jumpers Daniel-Andre Tande and Johann Andre Forfang will miss the men's normal hill event.

Double Olympic gold-medalist Simen Hegstad Krüger will also be unable to defend his 30 kilometers skiathlon title after contracting the virus.

Norway finished top of the medals table at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang with a total of 39, including 14 gold.

Data and technology company Gracenote predicted Norway to top the table again this year with 44 medals, including 21 golds. That's 10 more golds than Germany, which Gracenote predicts will finish second in the medal table.

As of Friday, over 300 people at the games have tested positive for COVID.