Winner’s medal issued for the Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympics. Bronze, 80 mm, 180 gm, by Tiffany and Co. of New York. The front, inscribed “XIII Olympic Winter Games,” depicts a raised hand holding the Olympic torch against a mountain backdrop, with the Olympic rings to the right side; the reverse, inscribed “Lake Placid 1980,” features a small Lake Placid Games emblem and a large pine branch with cones, with the sport engraved below, “Ice Hockey.” Inscribed on the bottom edge, “Tiffany & Co., Bronze, 1979.” Includes the original white-and-blue ribbon. The 1980 Lake Placid Olympics have become synonymous with the storied ‘Miracle on Ice’ final hockey match between the heavily favored Soviet Union and the United States. While the Americans famously won the contest with a stirring 4-3 victory, subsequently winning the gold medal against Finland two days later on February 24, the USSR and Sweden would battle for a silver medal at the Olympic Fieldhouse just hours afterwards, with the Soviets giving no quarter to their Scandinavian opponents. Awarded to a member of the Swedish national team, this beautiful bronze medal is one of only 73 issued at the Lake Placid Games, making it quite rare, and as an example awarded for ice hockey—one of the most popular winter sports—it is of the utmost desirability.
