Olympics Effects On The Cold War

Words: 722
Pages: 3

Shea Horan
Mr. Jett
U.S. History
12/5/14
The Effects of the Olympics on the Cold War The Cold War was a time of extreme tension between the United States and the USSR, the Olympics became a very influential way for the countries to show their power and dominance over one another. The five defining moments that the Olympics had on the Cold War included: the 1969 world ice hockey championships, the 1972 Summer Olympics men's basketball gold medal game, the 1980 "miracle on ice" game between the USSR and United States, the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott by the United Stated, and finally the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott by the USSR. The 1969 world ice hockey championships defining moment was the game between the Czechoslovakian national team
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The United States lead the game 50-49 going into the last 3 seconds of the game, after many controversies and interruptions, the Soviets won the game by a score of 51-50, the U.S. has appealed this decision multiple times with failure every time. There were multiple violations made within the last 3 seconds of the game including illegal substitution, a miscue of the clock, and spacing between players on the inbound of the ball. The United States team refused to accept the silver medal, and did not show up at the awards ceremony. Although they have been pushed to accept it to this day, the players met up in 2002 and unanimously decided that they would not accept the silver medal. The games result outraged the United States and brought national pride to the Soviet Union. The soviet players were recognized as national heroes, and think that although there were controversies surrounding the last 3 seconds they won the game …show more content…
The Soviet team was considered unbeatable, winning gold in 6 of the last 7 Olympic Games. Some of the Soviet players were active duty in the military and most were hockey legends. In contrast, the American team was compromised of mostly college players, even having a college coach lead them. The Soviet team also featured arguably the best goalie I. The world at the time. Despite all odds against them the United States team beat the Soviets 4-3 in perhaps the greatest sporting upset in history. The United States team went on to win the Gold Medal with a 4-2 win over Finland. The Soviets took the silver medal defeating Sweden 9-2. The Soviet Union was stunned by its loss and the United States celebrated as one of the greatest sporting accomplishments in