Miracle Moments!

I pull up the video of broadcaster Al Michaels’ iconic description of the final seconds of the U.S. hockey team’s 4-3 upset over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics. I hear his “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” and time seems to momentarily stop and start to go in reverse direction. At first, it starts slow. And then the calendar spins uncontrollably until I’m back in 1980.

It feels so familiar. And so new all at the same time.

With 10 minutes left in the third period, I see U.S. hockey player Mike Eruzione shoot and score, giving the U.S. the lead for the first time in the game. I feel the pins and needles that went through me as I watched nervously with my family as the more talented Soviet players attacked the American zone and seemed to be everywhere on the ice.

We knew little about the blue line or icing or really any hockey rules. Central Pennsylvania was not exactly a hockey hot bed. However, we knew it was a big thing for the Americans to stay close to the strong and mighty Soviets. And here the US team was in the lead.

And yes, when the final seconds finally ticked off the screen, I remember the U.S. players running onto the ice and celebrating together as a team. The game truly became a Miracle on Ice.

From the same games, I think too of Eric Heiden the ice skater bent over on his knees. In a span of nine days, Heiden won an unprecedented five gold medals, sweeping the entire men’s speed skating slate and setting Olympic records in every event, from the 500-meter sprint to the grueling 10,000-meter race. He set a world record in the 10,000 meter race by more than six seconds despite waking up late and hurrying to make the start of the race.

All these years later – forty-six years later to be exact — these are the images from the Lake Placid games that jump out at me. They’re iconic moments.

The 2026 Winter Olympics finishes up this weekend. I won’t be around in another forty-six years, but I wonder what images from these Winter Olympics will stick out. Will it be Speedskater Jordan Stolz and his two gold medals and two Olympic records? Will it be Figure Skater Ilia Malinin’s dramatic collapse, plummeting from an expected gold medal to eighth place? Will it be the touch-no touch cheating accusations coming after the Canadian curling team beat the Swedes. Or will it be 41-year-old Elana Meyers Taylor, who became the oldest athlete to win an individual gold in the Winter Olympics when she overtook Germany’s Laura Nolte by just 0.04 seconds on her final run in the Women’s Monobob?

There are certain “Where Were You” Moments” throughout history that stick out in our collective memory because they are transformative, shocking, and redefine the human experience. They’re also often “generation-defining” touchstones. The Miracle on Ice is one. I can’t imagine any of the moments from this Winter Olympics meeting that level.

But you never know.

Who knows what hits home with a 13-year-old boy skating on a pond in Minnesota. Or an adventurous female snowboarder in Alberta. Or a young skier in Austria. You never know.

What moments stick out to you?