Lake Placid

Illustration of a triangle shaped black mountain with white snow and gold and white sun rays behind it with a gold snowflake and white text on top on a blue background.

In February of 1980, the thirteenth Olympic Winter Games were held in Lake Placid, New York. Over 1000 athletes competed, representing 37 countries in 38 events.

The 1980 Winter Olympics are famously known for the United States’ victory over the USSR in ice hockey, which came to be known as the “Miracle on ice.” Since 1952, the USSR had held a monopoly on the ice hockey event, making their defeat by the American team historic.