Short answer
The United States won the final round robin ahead of the Soviet Union. Sweden won bronze and Finland finished fourth.
What happened
Twelve teams played in Lake Placid from February 12 to 24, 1980. The Soviet Union had won five of the six previous Olympic tournaments; the United States, coached by Herb Brooks, was an amateur team built mostly from college players and was the youngest team in the tournament.
In the first game of the medal round the United States beat the Soviet Union 4-3, scoring twice in the third period, the game known as the "Miracle on Ice". It then beat Finland to clinch gold. The Soviets took silver and Sweden bronze.
Read next: The Miracle on Ice, goal by goal.
Key facts
- Host
- Lake Placid, United States
- Dates
- 12 to 24 February 1980
- Venues
- Olympic Fieldhouse and Olympic Arena
- Teams
- 12
- Games
- 35
- Goals
- 308 (8.8 a game)
- Top scorer
- Milan Nový, 15 points
Final standings
| Place | Team |
|---|---|
| Gold | United States |
| Silver | Soviet Union |
| Bronze | Sweden |
| 4th | Finland |
| 5th | Czechoslovakia |
| 6th | Canada |
| 7th | Poland |
| 8th | Romania |
| 9th | Netherlands |
| 10th | West Germany |
| 11th | Norway |
| 12th | Japan |
Places below fourth follow the ranking printed in the tournament article; some early tournaments ranked lower places differently over the years.
More men’s tournaments
1976 tournament 1984 tournament All men’s tournaments
See every podium in the complete results list, or how each country did in the medal finder.
Source for this page
Wikipedia: Ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics (results, standings, scoring leader and awards, read October 29, 2026).
Questions people ask
Who won the 1980 Olympic men’s hockey gold?
The United States. The Soviet Union won silver and Sweden bronze.
Who led the 1980 tournament in scoring?
Milan Nový, with 15 points.
Sources
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. Spotted an error? Results are checked against the linked sources; tell us through the corrections note on the about page.