United States at the Winter Olympics

United States at the Olympics
Flag of the United States
IOC code	USA
NOC	United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
Medals Ranked 2nd	Gold 105 Silver 113 Bronze 89 Total 307
Summer appearances
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winter appearances
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the Winter Olympic Games. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.

Hosted Games[]

The United States has hosted the Winter Games on four occasions, more than any other nation:

Games	Host city	Dates	Nations	Participants	Events
1932 Winter Olympics	Lake Placid, New York	February 7–15	17	252	14
1960 Winter Olympics	Squaw Valley, California	February 2–20	30	665	27
1980 Winter Olympics	Lake Placid, New York	February 13–24	37	1,072	38
2002 Winter Olympics	Salt Lake City, Utah	February 8–24	77	2,399	78

Medal tables[]

Red border color indicates host nation status.

Medals by Winter Games[]

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Gold medals	Total medals
1924 Chamonix	24	1	2	1	4	5	3
1928 St. Moritz	24	2	2	2	6	2	2
1932 Lake Placid	64	6	4	2	12	1	1
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	55	1	0	3	4	8	6
1948 St. Moritz	69	3	4	2	9	4	4
1952 Oslo	65	4	6	1	11	2	2
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	67	2	3	2	7	6	5
1960 Squaw Valley	79	3	4	3	10	3	2
1964 Innsbruck	89	1	2	4	7	8	8
1968 Grenoble	95	1	5	1	7	9	8
1972 Sapporo	103	3	2	3	8	5	6
1976 Innsbruck	106	3	3	4	10	3	3
1980 Lake Placid	101	6	4	2	12	3	3
1984 Sarajevo	107	4	4	0	8	3	4
1988 Calgary	118	2	1	3	6	9	9
1992 Albertville	147	5	4	2	11	5	6
1994 Lillehammer	147	6	5	2	13	5	5
1998 Nagano	186	6	3	4	13	5	6
2002 Salt Lake City	202	10	13	11	34	3	2
2006 Turin	211	9	9	7	25	2	2
2010 Vancouver	216	9	15	13	37	3	1
2014 Sochi	222	9	9	10	28	4	2
2018 Pyeongchang	241	9	8	6	23	4	4
2022 Beijing	Future event
2026 Milan–Cortina	Future event
Total		105	113	89	307	2	2

Medals by winter sport[]

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Speed skating	29	22	17	68
Alpine skiing	17	20	10	47
Figure skating	15	16	20	51
Snowboarding	14	7	10	31
Freestyle skiing	9	9	7	25
Bobsleigh	7	10	8	25
Ice hockey	4	11	2	17
Short track speed skating	4	7	9	20
Skeleton	3	4	1	8
Nordic combined	1	3	0	4
Cross country skiing	1	1	0	2
Curling	1	0	1	2
Luge	0	3	3	6
Ski jumping	0	0	1	1
Totals (14 sports)	105	113	89	307

Updated on November 1, 2018

*This table includes two medals – one silver awarded in the ice hockey and one bronze awarded in the figure skating events at the 1920 Summer Olympics.

USA has never won an Olympic medal in the following current winter sport: Biathlon.

Flagbearers[]

Winter Olympics

Games	Athlete	Sport
1924 Chamonix	Clarence Abel	Ice hockey
1928 St. Moritz	Godfrey Dewey	Cross-country skiing (team manager)
1932 Lake Placid	Billy Fiske	Bobsleigh
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Rolf Monsen	Cross-country skiing
1948 St. Moritz	Jack Heaton	Skeleton & Bobsleigh
1952 Oslo	Jim Bickford	Bobsleigh
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	Jim Bickford	Bobsleigh
1960 Squaw Valley	Don McDermott	Speed skating
1964 Innsbruck	Bill Disney	Speed skating
1968 Grenoble	Terry McDermott	Speed skating
1972 Sapporo	Dianne Holum	Speed skating
1976 Innsbruck	Cindy Nelson	Alpine skiing
1980 Lake Placid	Scott Hamilton	Figure skating
1984 Sarajevo	Frank Masley	Luge
1988 Calgary	Lyle Nelson	Biathlon
1992 Albertville	Bill Koch	Cross-country skiing
1994 Lillehammer	Cammy Myler	Luge
1998 Nagano	Eric Flaim	Speed Skating
2002 Salt Lake City	Amy Peterson	Short track
2006 Turin	Chris Witty	Speed skating
2010 Vancouver	Mark Grimmette	Luge
2014 Sochi	Todd Lodwick	Nordic combined
2018 Pyeongchang	Erin Hamlin	Luge

Medals by winter sport[]

Current sports[]

Ice hockey[]

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1920 Antwerp	0	1	0	1
1924 Chamonix	0	1	0	1
1928 St Moritz	Did not participate
1932 Lake Placid	0	1	0	1
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen	0	0	1	1
1948 St Moritz	Participated unofficially
1952 Oslo	0	1	0	1
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	0	1	0	1
1960 Squaw Valley	1	0	0	1
1964 Innsbruck	0	0	0	0
1968 Grenoble	0	0	0	0
1972 Sapporo	0	1	0	1
1976 Innsbruck	0	0	0	0
1980 Lake Placid	1	0	0	1
1984 Sarajevo	0	0	0	0
1988 Calgary	0	0	0	0
1992 Albertville	0	0	0	0
1994 Lillehammer	0	0	0	0
1998 Nagano	1	0	0	1
2002 Salt Lake City	0	2	0	2
2006 Turin	0	0	1	1
2010 Vancouver	0	2	0	2
2014 Sochi	0	1	0	1
2018 Pyeongchang	1	0	0	1
Total	4	11	2	17

Russia–United States rivalry[]

Russia (in all its incarnations) and the United States have won more Olympic medals than any other nation.^[1] Russia topped the overall medal count at 7 Summer Olympics and 9 Winter Olympics, while the United States placed first at 17 Summer Olympics and 1 Winter Olympics. The countries developed a strong rivalry during the Cold War, and while the tensions eased in the 1990s, the relations deteriorated in 2014 and 2016, and the rivalry became even more heated.^[2]

Since the 1952 Summer Olympics, Russia has won 1902 Summer and Winter Olympics medals, the most in that period, while the United States has won 1873 medals, the second most in that period. Detailed comparison is presented below.

Winter Olympics[]

Medal totals of the Soviet Union/Unified Team/Russia/Olympic Athletes from Russia^[3][4][5] and the United States^[6] since 1956, when the Soviet Union started to compete.

Overall, the United States (1924–present) has won 105 gold and 305 total medals, and Russia (1956–present) has won 136 gold and 354 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.^[7] 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".^[8][9]

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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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[]

• United States at the Olympics
• United States at the Summer Olympics
• List of United States Olympic medalists

References[]

External links[]

• "United States of America". International Olympic Committee.
• "United States". Olympedia.com.
• "Olympic Analytics/USA". olympanalyt.com.