Russia (in all its incarnations) and the
United States each have won more Olympic medals than any other nation. Russia topped the
overall medal count at 7 Summer Olympics and 8 Winter Olympics, while the United States placed first at 19 Summer Olympics and 1 Winter Olympics. Medal totals of the
Soviet Union/
Unified Team/
Russia/
OAR/
ROC and the
United States since
1956, when the Soviet Union started to compete, are presented below. Overall, the United States (
1924–present) has won 126 gold and 363 total medals, and Russia (
1956–present) has won 140 gold and 386 total medals.
Ice hockey 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". 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. 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. 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==