‘Do You Believe In Miracles?’: Trump Set To Honor 1980 Olympic Hockey Team

Congress has officially passed legislation honoring the team that gave the United States one of its greatest Cold War victories — not in the halls of diplomacy, but on a sheet of ice.

The Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act, championed by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), has cleared both chambers of Congress and now awaits a final signature from President Donald Trump. The bill awards three Congressional Gold Medals to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team — a group of college kids headed by legendary coach Herb Brooks — for their historic 4-3 triumph over the Soviet Union, an act of athletic defiance that echoed far beyond Lake Placid. The Soviet Union hockey team was regarded as invincible, having trounced a team of NHL All-Stars before the Olympics.

“It is an incredible honor to represent Lake Placid, where the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Hockey Team pulled off one of the greatest sports upsets in world history,” Stefanik declared following the House’s September 15 vote. “The American defeat of the Soviet Union during the Cold War was a triumph of perseverance, unity, and spirit, not only for the athletes on the ice but for all Americans.”

Indeed, it wasn’t just a game — it was a symbolic haymaker thrown by a group of college kids against the professional behemoth of Soviet communism. It was America at its best: scrappy, underestimated, and absolutely unwilling to quit.

The medals will be enshrined at three symbolic institutions:

1. The Lake Placid Olympic Center in New York, where history was made.
2. The United States Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minnesota — hockey’s spiritual homeland.
3. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado, commemorating Olympic greatness.

This isn’t just about medals — it’s about memory. And as Stefanik noted, it comes as the 50th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice approaches in 2030.

Backed by a chorus of support from the National Hockey League, USA Hockey, and both sides of the aisle in Congress, the legislation recognizes what the American people have long known: that Herb Brooks’ squad didn’t just win a game — they delivered a gut punch to Soviet dominance at a time when America desperately needed a win. The U.S. had last won the gold medal in 1960; the Soviets had won every gold medal after that, in 1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976.

The bill pays homage to that historic moment, noting that the victory aired to more than 34 million Americans, inspired a generation of athletes, and forever changed the game of hockey in the U.S.

Since 1980, American hockey registrations have jumped from 136,000 to more than 564,000, and the number of U.S.-born NHL players has more than tripled. The ripple effects of “the Miracle” are still being felt today — on NHL ice, in youth leagues, and now in the annals of congressional history.

Perhaps most powerful are the words of the late Coach Brooks, who famously told his team before facing the Soviets: “You were born to be hockey players … and you were meant to be here.”

They were. And now, thanks to this bill, Congress has said they were also meant to be remembered.

The timing couldn’t be more poignant. The 1980 team played against the backdrop of stagflation, gas shortages, a hostage crisis in Iran, and a demoralized national mood. The Cold War was peaking, the Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan, and Americans were wondering whether their best days were behind them.

Then came a puck drop, a roar in Lake Placid, and a stunned Soviet squad skating off the ice. In that moment, American grit beat Soviet strength.

Now the bill — which had near-unanimous support in the House and Senate — lands on President Trump’s desk, where it is widely expected to be signed without delay.