Known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, the 1980 Winter Olympics were a winter sporting event that took place from February 13 to February 24, 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, in the United States. During this time, one of the greatest sports moments took place. This event is widely known as the Miracle on Ice.
The Miracle on Ice event refers to the US hockey win over the legendary and widely favored to win Soviet team. This hockey event was considered a miracle on ice because the US team entered the games placing seventh out of the twelve teams that qualified for the games.
The US team was made up of amateur and college players from The University of Minnesota and Boston University, while the Soviets had professional and well known players who had won the Gold medal in the past four Olympics.
Following a hopeful beginning with a 2 2 tie against Sweden, and then a 7 3 victory against Czechoslovakia, the US hockey team finished 4 and 0 with 1 draw to move them forward to the medal round.
After the first period, the game was tied 2 2. The Soviets scored a goal in the second period. US player Mark Johnson scored a goal in the third period bringing the game back to a tie. With ten minutes remaining in the game, Mike Eruzione scored the celebrated fourth goal and the US hockey team defeated the Soviets 4 3.
The U.S went on to win the Gold Medal by beating Finland (4 2) in their final medal round game. The Soviet Union acquired the Silver Medal by defeating Sweden in their final game. Sweden received the Bronze Medal.
During the time of the 1980 Olympics, American Soviet relations were strained because of the Cold War. Competition was intense between the two countries. The Soviets had had invaded Afghanistan and there was a chance that the strong Soviet team might not show up for the Olympics. However, the Soviets did compete in the Lake Placid games, even though the Americans later boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics. The Soviets had won every Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament since 1960. In spite of the difficulties and the odds against them, the US hockey team, led by coach Herb Brooks, stayed united and managed to defeat the Soviets making it an astounding miracle on ice.
The victory boosted many American citizens feelings of a sense of national pride. In fact, the match against the Soviets made the U S A! U S A! chants popular, which has since been used by many U.S. supporters at many worldwide competitive sports events.
A movie, Miracle on Ice, starring Karl Malden as Brooks and Steve Guttenberg as Craig, aired on television in 1981. It integrates actual game footage and original commentary from the 1980 Winter Games. A second movie entitled, Miracle, starring Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, was released in 2004. As well, the documentary film Do You Believe in Miracles? which is narrated by Liev Schreiber, appeared on HBO in 2001.
The Miracle on Ice event will forever define the 1980 Winter Olympics.
* Information source: wikipedia.org
Author Resource:-
A recognized leader in sports travel and tours, Roadtrips provides tickets, packages and hotels to the best sporting events including the 2010 World Cup and 2010 winter Olympics. http://www.roadtrips.com/
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.informiti.net/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites