East vs. West on Ice

1960 Winter Olympics USA vs. USSR



In 1960, many people around the world, feared the nuclear arms race between the 2 superpowers the USA and the USSR would likely culiminate into the war that would end all wars, before being nuked into oblivion. Thankfully the only contest fought between the 2 were taken place on an Ice Hockey rink. Taking place before "The Cold War" really peaked, with the rise of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the "Cuban Missile Crisis" in 1962, here we witness the sporting rivalry between the 2 nations, that expanded into a fight for the most gold-winning nation of the 1960 Winter Olympics held in Squaw Valley in California.

In this match, the USA defeat the Soviet Union 3-2. Compared to other games played in this tournament, this was a pretty low-scoring game. The USA won all their games from group qualifiers to the final five group to claim the gold medal. They defeated the likes of other giants of the game such as, Canada, Czechoslovakia and Sweden. Canada eventually claimed silver, and USSR claimed bronze, winning both preliminary games, but only winning 2 games in the final five, including one tie game.

Looking at the bigger picture, the roles are reversed, and it was the Soviet Union that came out on tops in the overall medal league with seven gold medals, 3 over the second placed Germany, while the USA lie in third place with 3 gold medals.