The United States defeated the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic “Miracle on Ice” hockey game.
The semifinal was played on February 22, 1980, at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet team was widely regarded as the world’s strongest, while the American roster consisted largely of college players. The United States won 4–3 after falling behind twice.
The victory sent the Americans to the gold-medal game, where they defeated Finland. Because the Soviet Union had won the previous four Olympic men’s hockey gold medals, the result was treated as one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
The game was not the Olympic final, a common misunderstanding. The United States still had to beat Finland to win gold. The Soviet Union received the silver medal after defeating Sweden in the bronze-medal game.