Miracle of 1980

The final words of the broadcast that was heard worldwide was “do you believe in miracles?” Here in the United States at Lake Placid, New York the men’s hockey team would try to overcome the emotional beating took from the Soviets in Madison Square Garden three days before the Lake Placid Games began, the Soviets routed the U.S. team 10–3 in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Why was this game in particular so important? Why would this be classified as a miracle? Let’s look at the Olympic rules that said if you went professional you couldn’t participate in the Olympics. Many college players in the US didn’t have four to six years to wait before going pro. Let’s look at why this was miracle.

One of the reasons why people considered this a miracle was because of the following statement. The so-called Miracle on Ice was more than just an Olympic upset; to many Americans, it was an ideological victory in the Cold War as meaningful as the Berlin Airlift or the Apollo moon landing. Also, occurring about eleven years prior to the complete fall of the Soviet Union, this victory was more than just a hockey victory, it was a victory for America. This win helped bring back hope into the hearts of the Americans, which they were lacking during the 1970s.

Let’s look at other areas of the Olympics and that is the number of countries who actually…