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Trump honors 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ Olympic team with a new gold medal

 

The 1980 US Olympic men’s ice hockey team defied nearly insurmountable odds to defeat the Soviet Union, the world’s largest hockey superpower, propelling them to win a gold medal and the nation’s adulation.

And now 45 years later, the “Miracle on Ice” team reunited in the Oval Office Friday for another medal ceremony as President Donald Trump signed a bill to award the players congressional gold medals.

The remarkable game remains iconic among sports fans and those who lived it for the 4-3, come-from-behind upset victory — but also the patriotism it generated amid a moment of national malaise during the Cold War, the Iran hostage crisis and economic stagflation. The famed triumph was just part of the US’ Olympic “miracle,” as the team still needed to refocus and defeat Finland in the gold medal game.

The team, according to the bipartisan legislation Trump signed, “(revitalized) American morale at the height of the Cold War, inspiring generations and transforming the sport of hockey in the United States.”

“This was one of the greatest moments in the history of US sports,” the president said during the signing ceremony.

Captain Mike Eruzione, goaltender Jim Craig, and forward Buzz Schneider, along with other players, attended the signing. Family members of the team’s late coach, Herb Brook, were also invited, according to a White House official.

The team, donning white cowboy hats as they once did during the 1980 Opening Ceremonies, presented Trump with his own hat, which he briefly wore.

Trump’s recognition of the team and the geopolitical significance of their victory comes at a complicated moment for US-Russia relations as the president has said that Russia has the “upper hand” in its war in Ukraine.

Trump has previously recognized the team, welcoming members on stage during a 2020 campaign rally in Las Vegas, an appearance that prompted some backlash at the time. The team was in town to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their victory. Trump called the US-Soviet face-off “one of the greatest moments in the history of sports.”

The new law, which passed the Senate and House in September, calls for three medals: one will be displayed at the Lake Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York, one at the US Hockey Hall of Fame Museum in Eveleth, Minnesota, and one at the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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