MILAN: The United States won men’s ice hockey gold at the Winter Olympics for the first time in 46 years as Jack Hughes’ overtime goal gave them a 2-1 win over Canada on Sunday.
Hughes’ strike 1min 41sec into overtime handed the US men their first Olympic triumph since the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid.
US President Donald Trump was quick to congratulate the gold medallists.
“Congratulations to our great U.S.A. Ice Hockey team. THEY WON THE GOLD. WOW!” he said on Truth Social, adding: “WHAT A GAME!”
The tone for the high-stakes clash was set early on when the Americans were booed when they came out for the warm-up at the Santagiulia Arena by a crowd that appeared to be two-thirds Canadian.
But chants of “USA, USA” soon rang out and they got louder when Matt Boldy gave the Americans a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Having stopped the first 24 shots he faced, USA goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was finally beaten in the second period by Cale Makar’s wrist shot that squeezed over his pad and into the back of the net.
Once the game went into the three-on-three overtime, Hughes applied the golden touch to send his team-mates and the US supporters into raptures.
After they won, the American players skated around the rink holding up a jersey with the name Gaudreau and the number 13 on the back in memory of former NHL player Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed in August 2024 along with his brother Matthew by a drunk driver while cycling in New Jersey.
Finland, the champions in Beijing four years ago, won the bronze medal on Saturday by thrashing Slovakia 6-1.
GU MAKES HISTORY
Earlier on Sunday, Eileen Gu soared to victory in the women’s freeski halfpipe final to end her wait for a gold medal at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, becoming the most decorated freestyle skier in the history of the Winter Games.
The 22-year-old, who also won silver in slopestyle and big air in Italy, posted a best score of 94.75 at a sun-soaked Livigno Snow Park to edge out China team-mate Li Fanghui, who posted 93.00.
An emotional Gu said at her post-event press conference that was proud to make history but broke down in tears towards the end, explaining she had found out about the death of her grandmother after the medals ceremony.
The freeski superstar, who has been one of the biggest names at the Winter Olympics, said she had fought “every single day” in the Italian Alps.
“In all three events I showcased my best skiing and as far as performance goes, that’s all I can ask for — to be able to show the world the best that women’s skiing has to offer at the moment that it really counts,” she said.
In the curling competitions, Sweden took the gold in the women’s event with a a 6-5 victory over Switzerland at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Canada beat the United States 10-7 to win bronze. The men’s gold went to Canada as they beat Great Britain 9-6 in a tense final.
The Swedes added another gold to their tally as Ebba Andersson surged away from her rivals to secure a commanding win in the 50km classic cross-country ski race, winning the first gold medal in the event on its Olympic debut.
Germany’s Johannes Lochner collected his second bobsleigh gold of the Games in the Four-Man event while compatriot Laura Nolte secured the Two-Woman bobsleigh gold on Saturday.
An interesting revelation was also made on Sunday by CEO of the Milano Cortina Games Andrea Varnier as he said that in the two weeks of the Winter Olympics, athletes consumed about two wheels of Grana Padano a day, roughly a ton of the world-famous Italian cheese over the 16 days of competition.
Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2026