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United States at the Winter Olympics

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Main article: United States at the Olympics
United States at the
Olympics
Flag of the United States
IOC codeUSA
Medals
Ranked 2nd
Gold
105
Silver
112
Bronze
88
Total
305
Summer appearances
Winter appearances
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the Winter Olympic Games. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.

Hosted Games

The United States has hosted the Winter Games on four occasions, more than any other nation:

Games Host city Dates Nations Participants Events
1932 Winter Olympics Lake Placid, New York February 7–15 17 252 14
1960 Winter Olympics Squaw Valley, California February 2–20 30 665 27
1980 Winter Olympics Lake Placid, New York February 13–24 37 1,072 38
2002 Winter Olympics Salt Lake City, Utah February 8–24 77 2,399 78

Medal tables

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal count
Red border color indicates host nation status.

Medals by Winter Games

Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Gold medals Total medals
1924 Chamonix 24 1 2 1 4 5 3
1928 St. Moritz 24 2 2 2 6 2 2
1932 Lake Placid 64 6 4 2 12 1 1
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 55 1 0 3 4 8 6
1948 St. Moritz 69 3 4 2 9 4 4
1952 Oslo 65 4 6 1 11 2 2
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 67 2 3 2 7 6 5
1960 Squaw Valley 79 3 4 3 10 3 2
1964 Innsbruck 89 1 2 4 7 8 8
1968 Grenoble 95 1 5 1 7 9 8
1972 Sapporo 103 3 2 3 8 5 6
1976 Innsbruck 106 3 3 4 10 3 3
1980 Lake Placid 101 6 4 2 12 3 3
1984 Sarajevo 107 4 4 0 8 3 4
1988 Calgary 118 2 1 3 6 9 9
1992 Albertville 147 5 4 2 11 5 6
1994 Lillehammer 147 6 5 2 13 5 5
1998 Nagano 186 6 3 4 13 5 6
2002 Salt Lake City 202 10 13 11 34 3 2
2006 Turin 211 9 9 7 25 2 2
2010 Vancouver 216 9 15 13 37 3 1
2014 Sochi 230 9 9 10 28 4 2
2018 Pyeongchang 242 9 8 6 23 4 4
2022 Beijing Future event
2026 Milano Cortina Future event
Total 105 112 88 305 2 2

Medals by winter sport

  Leading in that sport
SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
 Speed skating29221768
 Alpine skiing17201047
 Figure skating15162051
 Snowboarding1471031
 Freestyle skiing99725
 Bobsleigh710825
 Ice hockey411217
 Short track speed skating47920
 Skeleton3418
 Nordic combined1304
 Cross country skiing1102
 Curling1012
 Luge0336
 Ski jumping0011
Totals (14 entries)10511389307

Updated on November 1, 2018

*This table includes two medals – one silver awarded in the ice hockey and one bronze awarded in the figure skating events at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Flagbearers

See also: List of flag bearers for the United States at the Olympics
Winter Olympics
Games Athlete Sport
1924 Chamonix Clarence Abel Ice hockey
1928 St. Moritz Godfrey Dewey Cross Country Skiing (team manager)
1932 Lake Placid Billy Fiske Bobsleigh
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Rolf Monsen Cross Country Skiing
1948 St. Moritz Jack Heaton Skeleton & Bobsleigh
1952 Oslo Jim Bickford Bobsleigh
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Jim Bickford Bobsleigh
1960 Squaw Valley Don McDermott Speed skating
1964 Innsbruck Bill Disney Speed skating
1968 Grenoble Terry McDermott Speed skating
1972 Sapporo Dianne Holum Speed skating
1976 Innsbruck Cindy Nelson Alpine skiing
1980 Lake Placid Scott Hamilton Figure skating
1984 Sarajevo Frank Masley Luge
1988 Calgary Lyle Nelson Biathlon
1992 Albertville Bill Koch Cross Country Skiing
1994 Lillehammer Cammy Myler Luge
1998 Nagano Eric Flaim Speed Skating
2002 Salt Lake City Amy Peterson Short track
2006 Turin Chris Witty Speed skating
2010 Vancouver Mark Grimmette Luge
2014 Sochi Todd Lodwick Nordic combined
2018 Pyeongchang Erin Hamlin Luge

Russia–United States rivalry

Russia (in all its incarnations) and the United States have won more Olympic medals than any other nation.[1] Russia topped the overall medal count at 7 Summer Olympics and 9 Winter Olympics, while the United States placed first at 17 Summer Olympics and 1 Winter Olympics. The countries developed a strong rivalry during the Cold War, and while the tensions eased in the 1990s, the relations deteriorated in 2014 and 2016, and the rivalry became even more heated.[2]

Since the 1952 Summer Olympics, Russia has won 1912 Summer and Winter Olympics medals, the most in that period, while the United States has won 1873 medals, the second most in that period. Detailed comparison is presented below.

Winter Olympics

Medal totals of the Soviet Union/Unified Team/Russia/Olympic Athletes from Russia[3][4][5] and the United States[6] since 1956, when the Soviet Union started to compete.

Overall, the United States (1924–present) has won 105 gold and 305 total medals, and Russia (1956–present) has won 136 gold and 354 total medals.

Ice hockey

See also: Miracle on Ice
Beige postage stamp featuring a brightly colored hockey player
Paraguayan stamp featuring U.S. vs USSR matchup.

The 1980 hockey game between the U.S. and USSR was dubbed the "Miracle on Ice", when American college players defeated the heavily favored seasoned professionals from the Soviet Union on the way to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet Union had won the gold medal in five of the six previous Winter Olympic Games, and were the favorites to win once more. Though ice hockey is not a major sport in most areas of the United States, the "Miracle" is often listed as one of the all-time greatest American sporting achievements. The U.S. also won the gold medal in the 1960 Games at Squaw Valley, California, defeating the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden along the way. However, since this victory is not as well known as the 1980 win, it has come to be known as the "Forgotten Miracle".[7][8]

The U.S. and the Soviet Union next met at the Olympics in 1988. As in 1980, the Soviets were represented by their star-studded veterans, while the Americans fielded a team of college players. The Soviets won the encounter 7–5 and went on to win the gold medal, while the U.S. placed seventh.

The two teams met again at the 1992 Olympics in a semi-final match. There, the Unified Team (the successor to the Soviet Union) won 5–2. While some stars had left the Soviet Union to play in the NHL, the Unified Team still boasted many veterans from their domestic professional league, while the Americans were represented primarily by college players. The Unified Team eventually won the gold medal, while the U.S. placed fourth.

The U.S. and Russia (the successor to the Unified Team) met twice at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The Americans won both games 5-2 en route to the tournament championship.

The U.S., coached by Herb Brooks, and Russia, coached by Slava Fetisov, met twice in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which included a 2–2 round-robin draw and a 3–2 semi-final win for the Americans. The semi-final match was played 22 years to the day after the "Miracle on Ice" game.[9] The U.S. eventually won silver, while Russia won bronze.

The two teams met in the quarterfinals of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, with the U.S. earning a decisive 5-3 victory.

The U.S. and Russia played each other in a round-robin game at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The game was tied 2–2 after overtime before the Americans prevailed in an eight-round shootout, with T.J. Oshie scoring on 4 of 6 attempts for the United States. The match has been dubbed by some as the "Marathon on Ice" due to its length.[10] Both teams, however, failed to medal; the Americans finished fourth (losing in the semis to Canada and to Finland in the bronze medal game), while the Russians placed fifth (losing to Finland in the quarterfinals).

See also

References

  1. ^ "All-time Summer Olympics medals table 1896-2016 | Statistic". Statista.
  2. ^ "USA Men's Team Vs. Russia Was About More Than Just Hockey". Time.
  3. ^ "Olympic History of Soviet Union". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.
  4. ^ "Olympic History of Unified Team". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "Olympic History of Russia". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.
  6. ^ "Olympic History of United States". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.
  7. ^ Burnside, Scott (February 8, 2010). "Hockey's miracle before the 'Miracle'". ESPN. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  8. ^ "The Morning Skate: The Forgotten Miracle of 1960". The New York Times. December 11, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  9. ^ "USA holds off Russia 3–2 to advance to gold medal game". CNN. Retrieved May 12, 2010.
  10. ^ "Team USA Beats Russia In 'Marathon On Ice'". Team USA.
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