10 Greatest sporting chokes of all time (Part-1)

8. Soviet Union Ice Hockey team, 1980 Winter Games- ‘A debacle on ice’

February 23, 1980, Lake Placid, NY- A 20-feet wrist flick from US captain Mike Eruzione whistles past the Soviet keeper and the crowd erupts as the US side achieved the impossible. This Soviet side were deemed to be the best unit one can ever built to play the game – a winning streak of 21 matches, undefeated in the Olympics from 1968, add a gold medal in every games from 1960 and you’re talking about undisputed champions of the sport. But they lost, lost against the minnows, seeded seventh in a twelve team tournament.

On one hand, the US side looked to play for pride as they never felt themselves to be good enough to achieve the impossible; the Soviet Union was expected to be as rampant as ever. But as it turned out to, the favorites would only convert 3 out of their 39 shots. With the US surging in late to tie it up at 3-3, the Soviets froze defensively in the late moments of the game to concede in the dying moments.

When Eruzione was later asked to describe the win, he said, “It’s a human emotion that indescribable.”

“Was it ecstacy?” he was asked.

“That’s not strong enough,” he said. “We beat the Russians. We beat the Russians.”