The 10 Biggest Moments In Winter Olympics History

miracle-on-ice

Back in the ’80s, Dan Jansen was a beloved American speed skater. His story was emotional: he was the favorite to win the 500- and 1,000-meter races at the 1988 Games in Calgary, but his sister died from leukemia just hours before competition started. Eight seconds into the 500-meter, Jansen, who had dedicated his race to his sister, crashed. Four days later he raced in the 1,000-meter, and it looked like he was going to win, but he crashed again.

Despite an accomplished career, he went into his final Winter Games, at 1994 in Lillehamer, Norway, having never won an Olympic medal. In his final race, the 1,000-meter, he was a big-time underdog—but he shocked the world, winning gold and setting a new world record in the process.

As George Vecsey wrote for the New York Times: “Dan Jansen’s chosen field is merely speed skating, not finding a cure for cancer or AIDS, but in his own way, Dan Jansen showed Americans and everybody else how to keep going, that you can be persistent without growing bitter.”

The U.S. men’s ice hockey team was not expected to compete for a gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Canada was.

The U.S. team surprisingly emerged throughout the tournament. Goalie Ryan Miller looked invincible. He racked up a .946 save percentage.

The U.S. cruised to the gold-medal game, setting up a David-versus-Goliath showdown. The U.S. hadn’t trailed all tournament, but fell behind 2-0. The Americans mounted a rally, tying the game with just seconds remaining in regulation.

In overtime, however, it was the Canadian star Sidney Crosby who beat the American Star, Miller, to give Canada a 3-2 win. It was the first time a host nation had won a men’s hockey gold medal since 1980, the “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid, N.Y.—but we’ll get to that later.

Few Olympic sports nurture rivalries quite like figure skating, in which every little movement is analyzed under a microscope. Back in the 1988 Calgary Games, there were two men who represented their countries as national heroes. Brian Orser repped Canada. Brian Boitano repped the U.S. Orser had the support of the home crowd.

They had squared off in 10 major competitions before Calgary, and Orser had come out on top seven times. Like the Celtics and Lakers back in the day, these cats were always jockeying for the throne.

Boitano went first and delivered a practically perfect performance; he later said he felt he had been carried by angels. Yeah, dude was floating.

Orser, who was known for choking in the biggest moments, delivered a stellar routine, too. But he came up just short—Boitano finished with a barely-higher technical sore and won, five votes to four, pulling off the upset.

The Vancouver Games took a huge L before the competition even started. Hours before the opening ceremony, one of the athletes died at a nearby hospital. Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian luge athlete, crashed during a high-speed training run.

Luge athletes often surpass speeds of 90 MPH, but people expected the athletes to hit triple digits on this intimidating course, known as the fastest in the world.

Lugers had expressed concerns about the course before the tragic accident. The 21-year-old Kumaritashvili was on his final training run and nearing the very end of the 4,500-foot course when he was propelled off the track.

Kumaritashvili lay motionless after being thrown off of his sled and hitting a steel pole. He received CPR onsite, but doctors were unable to revive him.

A luge athlete hadn’t died during an Olympics since 1964, and an Olympian hadn’t died since 1992 (a skiing accident). It was a tragic ending to a promising Olympic career.