Norway is an extraordinarily important country for the Olympic Movement.

Its athletes have won more Winter Olympic medals (303) – and more Winter Olympic golds (107) – than those from any other single country.

For a small nation of about five million people, that is a staggering statistic.

The shockingly lethal attacks that have killed more than 90 in Oslo and Utoeya will hit the Olympic Movement hard – and not just because of the spotlight it throws on the importance of security a year ahead of London 2012.

When I spoke to Gerhard Heiberg, a longstanding International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from Norway, on Saturday afternoon, I was not surprised to learn that IOC President Jacques Rogge had already been in touch.

"I think he was almost the first one calling me," Heiberg – who had taken Rogge's call in New York on his way back to Norway – told me.

"He said how sorry he was and asked whether any members of the Olympic family had been affected."

Back in his home country now, Heiberg reports that there is "a feeling of togetherness".

"This happened to Norway and Norwegians," he went on.

"This is the biggest disaster since the Second World War.

"People feel that we are one family.

"The sorrow is there among all of us."

While sorrow, incomprehension and no doubt anger will be the prevailing emotions for some time to come, the Olympic Movement has the opportunity to play an important part in the healing process.

The second Winter Youth Olympic Games look set to be held in Norway in four-and-a-half years' time at Lillehammer, the small town that played host to the Winter Games proper in 1994.

This is not yet official.

According to Heiberg, the ball is in the Norwegian Government's court, with a decision on whether "a certain sum" can be guaranteed expected to be taken by the Norwegian Parliament in September or October.

But to my knowledge, with the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics set to take place in Innsbruck early next year, no other candidate is on the horizon.

And Heiberg confirms both that Lillehammer want the Games and that the IOC have said they would like to stage them there.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg rose admirably to the bleak occasion when he said that no one "is ever going to frighten us away from being Norway" and urged Norwegians to show that "the answer to violence is even more democracy, even more humanity".

In exactly this spirit, Lillehammer 2016 could play a big part in helping to ensure that the victims of this week's ghastly attacks, so many of them young, are remembered in a dignified and life-affirming way.

Let us hope that decision-makers inside and outside the Olympic Movement can do what is necessary to enable this to happen.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Cup. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed by clicking here.