The Russian men’s hockey squad, competing in PyeongChang under the name Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR), has claimed Olympic gold, defeating Germany 4-3 in an overtime thriller.
For the first time since 1992, Russian players have claimed an Olympic victory in hockey, thanks to an overtime goal by 20-year-old forward Kirill Kaprizov.
Twenty-six years ago, following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian hockey players playing for the Unified Team beat Canada 3-1 in the gold medal game to win the Olympic title for a team that did not have a national anthem or flag.
The Olympic flag, with its five interlocked rings, was raised in honor of the athletes who took first place in the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics. Since then, hockey gold has been elusive for a string of highly-touted Russian squads.
The 1998 team, led by ‘The Russian Rocket’ Pavel Bure, had to settle for silver, losing to the Czech Republic in the finals. At the 2002 Salt Lake Games, the team coached by Olympic and Stanley Cup champion Vyacheslav Fetisov took home bronze.
By a twist of fate, a Russian squad again competing under the Olympic flag has finally ended the slump. Russia’s national emblems were prohibited from being displayed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which disqualified Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics for alleged doping violations.
After the NHL refused to pause its regular season for this year’s Olympics, the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) became a springboard to the Winter Games, with Europe-based players receiving a chance to shine.
The OAR team, with former NHL stars like Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk on their roster, won all but one game in PyeongChang, stumbling in the opening clash against Slovakia which they unexpectedly lost 3-2.
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The Russian players redeemed themselves for that frustrating defeat by beating Slovenia 8-2 and USA 4-0 in the two remaining group stage games.
In the quarterfinals, the OAR squad, fully comprised of KHL players, gave Norway no chance, defeating them by a score of 6-1.
In the semifinals, the squad, led by team captain Pavel Datsyuk, shut out the Czech Republic 3-0.
The same day, the German team shocked the world by defeating nine-time Olympic champions Canada 4-3 in the other semifinal game.
Alexei Zhamnov, part of the 1992 Albertville Olympics championship team, was among the coaches who led the Olympic Athletes from Russia to the long-awaited victory in South Korea.
