Washington — President Trump hosted members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic males’s ice hockey crew — well-known for defeating the Soviet Union within the “Miracle on Ice” — at a invoice signing Friday to award congressional medals within the crew’s honor.
The laws the president signed Friday awarded all the gamers with Congressional Gold Medals to acknowledge the forty fifth anniversary of the U.S. victory on the 1980 Winter Olympic Video games, with the previous gamers standing behind the president in cowboy hats. The invoice handed the Home and Senate in September.
“We’re delighted to be joined as we speak by true legends of American sports activities historical past, heroes for the whole nation, the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey crew,” the president mentioned after signing the invoice. “This was one of many greatest moments that I’ve ever seen in sports activities, and I like sports activities. These are the lads who gave us one of the storied athletic wins of all time, it is referred to as the miracle on ice, and I assume that is what it was.”
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The occasion within the Oval Workplace featured hockey stars from the gold medal-winning crew, together with captain Mike Eruzione, goaltender Jim Craig and ahead Buzz Schneider. The household of deceased coach Herb Brooks additionally attended. CBS Information was first to report that the 1980 crew could be current for the signing. The gamers gave the president a hat just like those they wore forward of the 1980 recreation.
“President Trump will honor the legendary Olympic males’s ice hockey crew whose ‘Miracle on Ice’ resulted in a historic and symbolic victory towards the Soviet Union,” White Home spokeswoman Taylor Rogers mentioned forward of the signing. “This triumph fueled a resurgence of nationwide pleasure as Individuals throughout the nation watched Staff USA unexpectedly take house the Gold Medal.”
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The 1980 recreation — held in Lake Placid, New York — pitted the U.S. towards the Soviet Union, a Chilly Warfare archrival and hockey powerhouse that had received gold within the prior 4 Winter Olympics.
“The Soviets had not misplaced an Olympic recreation since 1968, they usually have been coming off a four-straight gold report, gold medals,” the president mentioned Friday.
Staff USA, partly made up of former collegiate gamers, upset the Soviet Union in a come-from-behind 4-3 victory that was immortalized by broadcaster Al Michaels’ exclamation: “Do you consider in miracles? Sure!” The American squad went on to defeat Finland within the gold medal-clinching recreation two days later.
The bid to acknowledge the sport’s anniversary with congressional medals picked up bipartisan help, together with from lawmakers in Minnesota, the house state of most of the gamers.
“The ‘Miracle on Ice’ hockey recreation was an upset that no one noticed coming – however one which showcases the energy and resilience of Individuals within the face of adversity,” Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota mentioned in a September assertion.
