‘Miracle on Ice’ is 36 years old today; celebrate by watching it again

It was one of the greatest moments in sports history. At the 1980 Winter Olympics, the Soviet Union’s men’s hockey team was expected to steamroll over the competition, especially the Americans, whom they had defeated, 10-3, just two weeks before.

Instead, the young U.S. team, led by Coach Herb Brooks, played the game of its life, defeating the Soviets, 4-3. Many people remember that as the gold-medal game, but it wasn’t.The win put the U.S. in the gold-medal game; they still had to defeat Finland to win the gold. Trailing 2-1 after two periods, the U.S. rallied to a 4-2 victory.

In the aftermath, the U.S. team was named Sportsmen of the Year by Sports Illustrated, and Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press. In 2000, Sports Illustrated named the game the greatest sports moment of the 20th century, and as part of its 100th anniversary in 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation chose the U.S.-Soviet Union game as the top international hockey story of all time.