title: Militarism

text: Militarism has been a significant element of the imperialist or expansionist ideologies of many nations throughout history. Some notable cases include the Ancient Assyrian Empire, the Greek city state of Sparta, the Roman Empire, the Aztec nation, the Mongol Empire, the Zulu Kingdom, the Kingdom of Prussia, the Habsburg/Habsburg-Lorraine Monarchies, the Ottoman Empire, the Empire of Japan, the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, North Korea, the United States of America, Nazi Germany, the Italian Empire during the rule of Benito Mussolini, the German Empire, the British Empire, and the First French Empire under Napoleon.


title: Militarism

text: The roots of German militarism can be found in 18th- and 19th-century Prussia and the subsequent unification of Germany under Prussian leadership. However, Hans Rosenberg sees its origin already in the Teutonic Order and its colonization of Prussia during the late Middle Ages, when mercenaries from the Holy Roman Empire were granted lands by the Order and gradually formed a new landed militarist Prussian nobility, from which the Junker nobility would later evolve.


title: Militarism

text: During the 17th-century reign of the "Great Elector" Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, Brandenburg-Prussia increased its military to 40,000 men and began an effective military administration overseen by the General War Commissariat. In order to bolster his power both in interior and foreign matters, so-called "Soldatenkönig" ("soldier king") Frederick William I of Prussia started his large-scale military reforms in 1713, thus beginning the country's tradition of a high military budget by increasing the annual military spending to 73% of the entire annual budget of Prussia. By the time of his death in 1740, the Prussian Army had grown into a standing army of 83,000 men, one of the largest in Europe, at a time when the entire Prussian populace made up 2.5 million people. Prussian military writer would later write in hindsight that ever since the reign of the "soldier king", Prussia always remained "not a country with an army, but an army with a country" (a quote often misattributed to Voltaire and Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau).


title: Militarism

text: After Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Prussia in 1806, one of the conditions of peace was that Prussia should reduce its army to no more than 42,000 men. In order that the country should not again be so easily conquered, the King of Prussia enrolled the permitted number of men for one year, trained and then dismissed that group, and enrolled another of the same size, and so on. Thus, in the course of ten years, he was able to gather an army of 420,000 men who had at least one year of military training. The officers of the army were drawn almost entirely from among the land-owning nobility. The result was that there was gradually built up a large class of professional officers on the one hand, and a much larger class, the rank and file of the army, on the other. These enlisted men had become conditioned to obey implicitly all the commands of the officers, creating a class-based culture of deference.


title: Militarism

text: This system led to several consequences. Since the officer class also furnished most of the officials for the civil administration of the country, the interests of the army came to be considered as identical to the interests of the country as a whole. A second result was that the governing class desired to continue a system which gave them so much power over the common people, contributing to the continuing influence of the Junker noble classes.


title: Militarism

text: Militarism in Germany continued after World War I and the fall of the German monarchy in the German Revolution of 1918–1919, in spite of Allied attempts to crush German militarism by means of the Treaty of Versailles, as the Allies saw Prussian and German militarism as one of the major causes of the Great War. During the period of the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), the 1920 Kapp Putsch, an attempted coup d'état against the republican government, was launched by disaffected members of the armed forces. After this event, some of the more radical militarists and nationalists were submerged in grief and despair into the NSDAP party of Adolf Hitler, while more moderate elements of militarism declined and remained affiliated with the German National People's Party (DNVP) instead.


title: Militarism

text: Throughout its entire 14-year existence, the Weimar Republic remained under threat of militaristic nationalism, as many Germans felt the Treaty of Versailles humiliated their militaristic culture. The Weimar years saw large-scale right-wing militarist and paramilitary mass organizations such as "Der Stahlhelm" as well as illegal underground militias such as the "Freikorps" and the Black Reichswehr. Formed as early as 1920, out of the latter two soon rose the "Sturmabteilung" (SA), the paramilitary branch of the Nazi party. All of these were responsible for the political violence of so-called "Feme" murders and an overall atmosphere of lingering civil war during the Weimar period. During the Weimar era, mathematician and political writer Emil Julius Gumbel published in-depth analyses of the militarist paramilitary violence characterizing German public life as well as the state's lenient to sympathetic reaction to it if the violence was committed by the political right.


title: Militarism

text: Nazi Germany was a strongly militarist state; after its defeat in 1945, militarism in German culture was dramatically reduced as a backlash against the Nazi period, and the Allied Control Council and later the Allied High Commission oversaw a program of attempted fundamental re-education of the German people at large in order to put a stop to German militarism once and for all.


title: Militarism

text: The Federal Republic of Germany today maintains a large, modern military and has one of the highest defence budgets in the world; at 1.3 percent of Germany's GDP, it is, in 2019, similar in cash terms to those of the United Kingdom, France and Japan, at around US$50bn.


title: Militarism

text: The rise of militarism in India dates back to the British Raj with the establishment of several Indian independence movement organizations such as the Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The Indian National Army (INA) played a crucial role in pressuring the British Raj after it occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with the help of Imperial Japan, but the movement lost momentum due to lack of support by the Indian National Congress, the Battle of Imphal, and Bose's sudden death.


title: Militarism

text: After India gained independence in 1947, tensions with neighbouring Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute and other issues led the Indian government to emphasize military preparedness (see also the political integration of India). After the Sino-Indian War in 1962, India dramatically expanded its military which helped India win the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. India became third Asian country in the world to possess nuclear weapons, culminating in the tests of 1998. The Kashmiri insurgency and recent events including the Kargil War against Pakistan, assured that the Indian government remained committed to military expansion.


title: Militarism

text: In recent years the government has increased the military expenditure across all branches and embarked on a rapid modernization programme.


title: Militarism

text: Israel's many Arab–Israeli conflicts since the Declaration of the Establishment of the State have led to a prominence of security and defense in politics and civil society, resulting in many of Israel's former high-ranking military leaders becoming top politicians: Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Ezer Weizman, Ehud Barak, Shaul Mofaz, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Mordechai, Amram Mitzna and Benny Gantz.


title: Militarism

text: In parallel with 20th-century German militarism, Japanese militarism began with a series of events by which the military gained prominence in dictating Japan's affairs. This was evident in 15th-century Japan's "Sengoku" period or "Age of Warring States", where powerful samurai warlords ("daimyōs") played a significant role in Japanese politics. Japan's militarism is deeply rooted in the ancient samurai tradition, centuries before Japan's modernization. Even though a militarist philosophy was intrinsic to the shogunates, a nationalist style of militarism developed after the Meiji Restoration, which restored the Emperor to power and began the Empire of Japan. It is exemplified by the 1882 Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors, which called for all members of the armed forces to have an absolute personal loyalty to the Emperor.


title: Militarism

text: In the 20th century (approximately in the 1920s), two factors contributed both to the power of the military and chaos within its ranks. One was the "Military Ministers to be Active-Duty Officers Law", which required the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) to agree to the Ministry of Army position in the Cabinet. This essentially gave the military veto power over the formation of any Cabinet in the ostensibly parliamentary country. Another factor was "gekokujō", or institutionalized disobedience by junior officers. It was not uncommon for radical junior officers to press their goals, to the extent of assassinating their seniors. In 1936, this phenomenon resulted in the February 26 Incident, in which junior officers attempted a coup d'état and killed leading members of the Japanese government. The rebellion enraged Emperor Hirohito and he ordered its suppression, which was successfully carried out by loyal members of the military.


title: Militarism

text: In the 1930s, the Great Depression wrecked Japan's economy and gave radical elements within the Japanese military the chance to realize their ambitions of conquering all of Asia. In 1931, the Kwantung Army (a Japanese military force stationed in Manchuria) staged the Mukden Incident, which sparked the Invasion of Manchuria and its transformation into the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Six years later, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident outside Peking sparked the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Japanese troops streamed into China, conquering Peking, Shanghai, and the national capital of Nanking; the last conquest was followed by the Nanking Massacre. In 1940, Japan entered into an alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, two similarly militaristic states in Europe, and advanced out of China and into Southeast Asia. This brought about the intervention of the United States, which embargoed all petroleum to Japan. The embargo eventually precipitated the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the entry of the U.S. into World War II.


title: Militarism

text: In 1945, Japan surrendered to the United States, beginning the Occupation of Japan and the purging of all militarist influences from Japanese society and politics. In 1947, the new Constitution of Japan supplanted the Meiji Constitution as the fundamental law of the country, replacing the rule of the Emperor with parliamentary government. With this event, the Empire of Japan officially came to an end and the modern State of Japan was founded.


title: Militarism

text: Sŏn'gun (often transliterated "songun"), North Korea's "Military First" policy, regards military power as the highest priority of the country. This has escalated so much in the DPRK that one in five people serves in the armed forces, and the military has become one of the largest in the world.


title: Militarism

text: "Songun" elevates the Korean People's Armed Forces within North Korea as an organization and as a state function, granting it the primary position in the North Korean government and society. The principle guides domestic policy and international interactions.


title: Militarism

text: It provides the framework of the government, designating the military as the "supreme repository of power". It also facilitates the militarization of non-military sectors by emphasizing the unity of the military and the people by spreading military culture among the masses. The North Korean government grants the Korean People's Army as the highest priority in the economy and in resource-allocation, and positions it as the model for society to emulate.


title: Militarism

text: "Songun" is also the ideological concept behind a shift in policies (since the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994) which emphasize the people's military over all other aspects of state and the interests of the military comes first before the masses (workers).


title: Militarism

text: In the Pre-Colonial era, the Filipino people had their own forces, divided between the islands which each had its own ruler. They were called "Sandig" (Guards), "Kawal" (Knights), and "Tanod". They also served as the police and watchers on the land, coastlines and seas. In 1521, The Visayan King of Mactan "Lapu-Lapu" of Cebu, organized the first recorded military action against the Spanish colonizers, in the Battle of Mactan.


title: Militarism

text: In the 19th century during the Philippine Revolution, Andrés Bonifacio founded the Katipunan, a revolutionary organization against Spain at the Cry of Pugad Lawin. Some notable battles were the Siege of Baler, The Battle of Imus, Battle of Kawit, Battle of Nueva Ecija, the victorious Battle of Alapan and the famous Twin Battles of Binakayan and Dalahican. During Independence, the President General Emilio Aguinaldo established the "Magdalo", a faction separate from "Katipunan", and he declared the Revolutionary Government in the constitution of the First Philippine Republic.


title: Militarism

text: And during the Filipino-American War, the General Antonio Luna as a High-Ranking General, He Ordered a Conscription to all Citizens, a mandatory form of National Services (at any War's) for the increase the density and the manpower of the Philippine Army.


title: Militarism

text: During World War II, the Philippines was one of the participants, as a member of Allied Forces, the Philippines with the U.S. Forces fought the Imperial Japanese Army, (1942–1945) the notable battles is the victorious Battle of Manila, which also called "The Liberation".


title: Militarism

text: During the 1970s the President Ferdinand Marcos declared P.D.1081 or martial law, which also made the Philippines a garrison state. By the Philippine Constabulary (PC) and Integrated National Police (INP), The High-School or Secondary and College Education have a compulsory Curriculum concerning the Military, and nationalism which is the "Citizens Military Training" (CMT) And "Reserve Officers Training Corps" (ROTC).


title: Militarism

text: But in 1986, when the constitution changed, this form of National Service Training Program became non-compulsory but still part of the Basic Education.


title: Militarism

text: Russia has also had a long history of militarism continuing on to the present day driven by its desire to protect its western frontier which has no natural buffers between potential invaders from the rest of continental Europe and her heartlands in European Russia. Ever since Peter the Great's reforms, Russia became one of Europe's great powers in terms of political and military strength. Through the Imperial era, Russia continued on her quest for territorial expansion into Siberia, Caucasus and into Eastern Europe, eventually conquering the majority of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.


title: Militarism

text: The end of imperial rule in 1917 meant the loss of some territory following the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, but much of it was quickly reconquered by the Soviet Union later on, including events such as the partition of Poland and reconquest of the Baltic states in the late 1930s and ‘40s. Soviet influence reached its peak after WWII in the Cold War era, during which the Soviet Union occupied virtually all of Eastern Europe in a military alliance known as the Warsaw Pact, with the Soviet Army playing a key role. All this was lost with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia was greatly weakened in what Russia's second President Vladimir Putin called the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century. Nevertheless, under Putin's leadership, a resurgent modern Russia has maintained a tremendous amount of geopolitical influence in the countries spawned from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and modern Russia remains Eastern Europe's leading, if not dominant, power.


title: Militarism

text: The Ottoman Empire lasted for centuries and always relied on its military might, but militarism was not a part of everyday life. Militarism was only introduced into daily life with the advent of modern institutions, particularly schools, which became part of the state apparatus when the Ottoman Empire was succeeded by a new nation state – the Republic of Turkey – in 1923. The founders of the republic were determined to break with the past and modernise the country. There was, however, an inherent contradiction in that their modernist vision was limited by their military roots. The leading reformers were all military men and, in keeping with the military tradition, all believed in the authority and the sacredness of the state. The public also believed in the military. It was the military, after all, who led the nation through the War of Liberation (1919–1923) and saved the motherland.


title: Militarism

text: The first military coup in the history of the republic was on 27 May 1960, which resulted in the hanging of PM Adnan Menderes and 2 ministers, and a new constitution was introduced, creating a Constitutional Court to vet the legislation passed by parliament, and a military-dominated National Security Council to oversee the government affairs similar to the "politburo" in the Soviet Union. The second military coup took place on 12 March 1971, this time only forcing the government to resign and installing a cabinet of technocrats and bureaucrats without dissolving the parliament. The third military coup took place on 12 September 1980, which resulted in the dissolution of parliament and all political parties as well as imposition of a much more authoritarian constitution. There was another military intervention that was called a "post-modern coup" on 28 February 1997 which merely forced the government to resign, and finally an unsuccessful military coup attempt on 15 July 2016.


title: Militarism

text: The constitutional referendums in 2010 and 2017 have changed the composition and role of the National Security Council, and placed the armed forces under the control of civilian government.


title: Militarism

text: In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries political and military leaders reformed the US federal government to establish a stronger central government than had ever previously existed for the purpose of enabling the nation to pursue an imperial policy in the Pacific and in the Caribbean and economic militarism to support the development of the new industrial economy. This reform was the result of a conflict between Neo-Hamiltonian Republicans and Jeffersonian-Jacksonian Democrats over the proper administration of the state and direction of its foreign policy. The conflict pitted proponents of professionalism, based on business management principles, against those favoring more local control in the hands of laymen and political appointees. The outcome of this struggle, including a more professional federal civil service and a strengthened presidency and executive branch, made a more expansionist foreign policy possible.


title: Militarism

text: After the end of the American Civil War the national army fell into disrepair. Reforms based on various European states including Britain, Germany, and Switzerland were made so that it would become responsive to control from the central government, prepared for future conflicts, and develop refined command and support structures; these reforms led to the development of professional military thinkers and cadre.


title: Militarism

text: During this time the ideas of Social Darwinism helped propel American overseas expansion in the Pacific and Caribbean. This required modifications for a more efficient central government due to the added administration requirements (see above).


title: Militarism

text: The enlargement of the U.S. Army for the Spanish–American War was considered essential to the occupation and control of the new territories acquired from Spain in its defeat (Guam, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Cuba). The previous limit by legislation of 24,000 men was expanded to 60,000 regulars in the new army bill on 2 February 1901, with allowance at that time for expansion to 80,000 regulars by presidential discretion at times of national emergency.


title: Militarism

text: U.S. forces were again enlarged immensely for World War I. Officers such as George S. Patton were permanent captains at the start of the war and received temporary promotions to colonel.


title: Militarism

text: Between the first and second world wars, the US Marine Corps engaged in questionable activities in the Banana Wars in Latin America. Retired Major General Smedley Butler, who was at the time of his death the most decorated Marine, spoke strongly against what he considered to be trends toward fascism and militarism. Butler briefed Congress on what he described as a Business Plot for a military coup, for which he had been suggested as leader; the matter was partially corroborated, but the real threat has been disputed. The Latin American expeditions ended with Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy of 1934.


title: Militarism

text: After World War II, there were major cutbacks, such that units responding early in the Korean War under United Nations authority (e.g., Task Force Smith) were unprepared, resulting in catastrophic performance. When Harry S. Truman fired Douglas MacArthur, the tradition of civilian control held and MacArthur left without any hint of military coup.


title: Militarism

text: The Cold War resulted in serious permanent military buildups. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a retired top military commander elected as a civilian President, warned, as he was leaving office, of the development of a military–industrial complex. In the Cold War, there emerged many civilian academics and industrial researchers, such as Henry Kissinger and Herman Kahn, who had significant input into the use of military force. The complexities of nuclear strategy and the debates surrounding them helped produce a new group of 'defense intellectuals' and think tanks, such as the Rand Corporation (where Kahn, among others, worked).


title: Militarism

text: It has been argued that the United States has shifted to a state of neomilitarism since the end of the Vietnam War. This form of militarism is distinguished by the reliance on a relatively small number of volunteer fighters; heavy reliance on complex technologies; and the rationalization and expansion of government advertising and recruitment programs designed to promote military service.


title: Militarism

text: Militarism in Venezuela follows the cult and myth of Simón Bolívar, known as the liberator of Venezuela. For much of the 1800s, Venezuela was ruled by powerful, militarist leaders known as "caudillos". Between 1892 and 1900 alone, six rebellions occurred and 437 military actions were taken to obtain control of Venezuela. With the military controlling Venezuela for much of its history, the country practiced a "military ethos", with civilians today still believing that military intervention in the government is positive, especially during times of crisis, with many Venezuelans believing that the military opens democratic opportunities instead of blocking them.


title: Militarism

text: Much of the modern political movement behind the Fifth Republic of Venezuela, ruled by the Bolivarian government established by Hugo Chávez, was built on the following of Bolívar and such militaristic ideals.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. The airport is the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland, and the fifth busiest on the island.


title: Shannon Airport

text: The airport has a history of pioneering in global aviation with the first transatlantic proving flight in 1945, the world's first duty-free airport opening in 1947, and Europe's first United States border preclearance facility opening in 1986. It was a busy refuelling stop for many international carriers in the 1960s, making it a gateway between Europe and the Americas. At , Shannon has the longest runway in Ireland, which allowed it to be a designated alternative landing site for the Space Shuttle.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In the late 1930s, transatlantic air traffic was dominated by flying boats, and a flying boat terminal was located at Foynes on the south side of the Shannon Estuary. However, it was realised that changing technology would require a permanent runway and airport.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 1936, the Government of Ireland confirmed that it would develop a site at Rineanna for the country's first transatlantic airport. The land on which the airport was to be built was boggy, and on 8 October 1936 work began to drain the land. In July 1939, a SABENA Savoia-Marchetti S.73 from Brussels via Croydon Airport was the first commercial flight to use the Rineanna airfield.


title: Shannon Airport

text: By 1942 a serviceable airport had been established and was named Shannon Airport. BOAC began scheduled service to Bristol on 21 February 1942, to provide a land plane connection between England and the flying boat terminal at Foynes. Aer Lingus began scheduled service to Dublin in August 1942.


title: Shannon Airport

text: By the end of World War II in 1945, the existing runways at Shannon were extended to allow transatlantic flights to take off. The first Air Services Agreement between Ireland and the United States in 1945 only permitted U.S. airlines to serve Shannon, and only permitted Irish airlines to serve Boston, Chicago and New York.


title: Shannon Airport

text: On 16 September 1945 the first transatlantic proving flight, a Pan Am DC-4, landed at Shannon from Gander. On 24 October 1945, the first scheduled transatlantic commercial flight using a land plane, an American Overseas Airlines DC-4, "Flagship New England", stopped at the airport on the New York City–Gander–Shannon–London route. Trans World Airlines began service between New York and Paris via Gander and Shannon on 5 February 1946, and began a Shannon-Dublin tag flight in 1971 after the US Civil Aeronautics Board threatened to ban Aer Lingus from landing in New York. Aerlinte Eireann began service from Dublin to New York via Shannon on 28 April 1958.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 1947, the "Customs Free Airport Act" established Shannon as the world's first duty-free airport, a move promoted by Brendan O'Regan. Shannon became a model for other duty-free facilities worldwide.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 1969, it was announced that a new government agency, Aer Rianta (now the Dublin Airport Authority), would be given responsibility for Shannon Airport. Passenger numbers at the airport reached 460,000 that year. With the increase in passengers and the introduction of the Boeing 747, it was decided that a new enlarged terminal was needed. The first commercial operation of a 747 took place in April 1971, while the new terminal officially opened in May that year.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Aeroflot began service to Shannon in September 1975 as a stop between the Soviet Union and other Communist bloc countries such as Cuba and Angola. Aeroflot kept its own fuel storage at Shannon and allowed the airport to sell the Soviet fuel to other airlines.


title: Shannon Airport

text: The United States demanded that Ireland suspend Aeroflot's Shannon operations following the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983, and Ireland temporarily banned Aeroflot later that year. Nonetheless, the Aeroflot operation returned and developed into a hub by the mid-1990s, with flights to New York, Chicago, Washington, Miami, and Havana, largely using Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft.


title: Shannon Airport

text: The cooperation between Aeroflot and Aer Rianta at Shannon also led to a joint venture between the two companies to open duty-free shops at Sheremetyevo Airport in 1987.


title: Shannon Airport

text: On 30 September 1994, Shannon was the site of the "circling over Shannon" diplomatic incident involving Russian President Boris Yeltsin.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Shannon introduced United States border preinspection in 1986, allowing departing passengers to the US to complete US immigration procedures at Shannon. These services were extended to cover private aircraft in 2010, making Shannon the first airport in the world to offer US border preclearance for private aircraft.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 1990, the U.S.-Irish bilateral agreement was changed to allow Irish airlines to serve Los Angeles and additional U.S. airlines to serve Dublin via Shannon. An amendment in 1993 allowed airlines to provide direct transatlantic services to Dublin, but 50% of transatlantic flights had to either originate or stop over in Shannon. During the 1990s, the airport began to struggle. However, 1996 saw the beginning of Continental Airlines flying between Dublin, Shannon and Newark, New Jersey. Shannon began to rebound in the late 1990s with the success of the Irish economy, the improving situation in Northern Ireland and an influx of American tourists. By the end of the decade Shannon had passenger numbers of 2.2 million and in the year 2000, a new £40 million terminal extension was opened.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 2005, an agreement was reached regarding a transitional period. Beginning in November 2006 and ending in April 2008, the agreement gradually eliminated restrictions on cargo services. For passenger service, it reduced the stopover requirement and allowed Irish airlines to serve three additional U.S. destinations. Furthermore, it was agreed that at the end of this period, no restrictions would be placed on scheduled services between any airport in the one country to any airport in the other.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 2007, the European Union and the U.S. announced that an agreement had been reached on an open skies aviation policy (EU–US Open Skies Agreement). The agreement came into effect from 30 March 2008, leading to the complete abolition of the Shannon Stopover, although this would have happened under the 2005 agreement anyway.


title: Shannon Airport

text: British Airways operated business class-only flights between London City Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York between 2009 and 2020. Of these, the westbound flights stopped for fuel in Shannon to allow them to take off from the short runway of the London City Airport, which is located in the London Docklands area. This stop also allowed passengers to clear US Customs and Immigration in Shannon rather than at JFK. Introduced in 2009, two flights per day, one of which carried the flight number BA1, were operated using A318 aircraft capable of operating steep approaches. The flights were halved in 2017, and in 2020, amid their suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that the flights would not be resumed.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Ryanair increased services and passenger numbers at the airport until 2008. In 2007, Shannon carried 3.2 million passengers. However, after a disagreement with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) in 2008, Ryanair announced that the number of based aircraft would reduce from four to one and 150 jobs would be lost. Services were cut by 75% and 32 Ryanair routes from the airport were reduced to eight.


title: Shannon Airport

text: CityJet launched a twice-daily route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2008 when Aer Lingus closed its London Heathrow flights. The company based an Avro RJ85 at Shannon. More services were under consideration, including a route to London City Airport; however CityJet pulled out of Shannon in October 2009 after Aer Lingus reinstated its Heathrow flights.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In December 2012, it was announced that Shannon Airport would separate from the Dublin Airport Authority, who still own Dublin and Cork airports. On 31 December 2012 at 11:59 pm, Shannon Airport became a publicly owned commercial airport and is now operated and run by the Shannon Airport Authority plc. Shannon announced a target in 2012 to grow its passenger numbers to 2.5 million annually within five years. However, Shannon has fallen short of its stated targeted figure with just 1.74 million flying through the airport in 2017.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In March 2013, the new company appointed Neil Pakey as its first CEO. Traffic figures for June 2013 report an 8% increase on the previous year, the first time a traffic increase has been recorded in three years. On 21 March 2013, Ryanair announced a new twice-weekly route to Alicante, Spain to begin on 5 June for the summer months. That brought Shannon's total to 33 seasonal scheduled summer routes. In August 2013 Aer Lingus announced a 1x weekly service to Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain every Saturday during the winter months using an A320. In October 2013, United Airlines confirmed it will increase capacity by 88% on its Shannon-Chicago route for 2014. In late 2013, Aer Lingus announced 2 new routes to Málaga, Spain (two weekly) and to Bristol, UK (one daily). Ryanair also announced 8 new routes from Shannon to continental Europe. The new routes began from the start of April 2014, and a second Boeing 737-800 was based at Shannon to accommodate the extra 300,000 passengers a year it would bring in. The destinations announced were Berlin Schonefeld, Beauvais, Memmingen, Warsaw Modlin, Kraków, Nice, Faro, and Fuerteventura.


title: Shannon Airport

text: On 4 July 2014, the "Bank of Ireland Runway Night Run" featured 1,200 people running along Shannon's runway to raise money for charity.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In late 2014, Aer Lingus Regional operator Stobart Air said that they would close down their Shannon base in early 2015. They returned in June 2015 operating six flights weekly Birmingham service followed by six flights weekly Edinburgh service. In late 2015, they announced a new CEO for Shannon, Matthew Thomas. Ryanair announced that it will be ending its Paris and Memmingen routes in late 2016, and it also reduced its Manchester and London Stansted routes. Ryanair is aiming for 720,000 passengers in Summer 2017 even though that they were close to 800,000 in Summer 2016. In October 2016, SAS announced a new route to Stockholm from 1 August 2017 to 7 October 2017. Shortly after that, Lufthansa announced a weekly service to Frankfurt running from April to October in 2017. In September 2017 Ryanair announced a new Route to Reus. It will run through summer 2018 operating 2x weekly (Tuesdays and Saturdays) replacing the route to Berlin. The same day, Air Canada announced a new 4x weekly service to Toronto with the Boeing 737 MAX. In February 2018, Ryanair announced it would resume flights to Bristol and Liverpool from May 2018. In late 2018, Ryanair announced a new twice weekly service to Ibiza, and the resumption of flights to East Midlands, both beginning in April 2019. The East Midlands, Bristol and Ibiza flights are all being ceased at the end of the 2019 summer season due to fears of Brexit and the 737 MAX groundings. Due to the 737 MAX groundings, Air Canada and Norwegian Airlines suspended their routes to Shannon. This reduced the number of passenger by 120,000. On 23 October 2019, Lauda announced that they will launch a twice weekly flight to Shannon from their base in Vienna operating every Wednesday and Saturday. The airport handled 1,864,762 passengers in 2018. This number is the highest passenger numbers since gaining independence from the DAA.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Shannon Airport has a history of foreign military use. A large part of its business in recent years has been military stopovers, currently almost all American; however, the airport was also frequently used by the Soviet military until the 1990s, since Ireland, having a traditional policy of military neutrality, was not a member of NATO. There were some restrictions, such as being carrying no arms, ammunition, or explosives, and that the flights in question did not form part of military exercises or operations. Shannon saw military transports throughout the Cold War and during the first Gulf War.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the Irish government offered the use of Shannon to the US government. When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, the government still allowed United States Armed Forces to use the airport. This caused much controversy and was the subject of protests and a challenge brought to the High Court. As of November 2008, approximately 1.2 million troops had passed through Shannon since the beginning of the Iraq War. In 2012–2013, the military flight contracts are held by Omni Air International.


title: Shannon Airport

text: On 6 December 2005, the BBC programme "Newsnight" alleged that Shannon was used on at least 33 occasions by United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) flights, thought to be part of a US policy called extraordinary rendition. "The New York Times" reported the number to be 33, though referring to "Ireland" rather than Shannon, while Amnesty International has alleged the number of flights to be 50. Casement Aerodrome has seen similar claims. The United States and Ireland have denied these allegations.


title: Shannon Airport

text: The current airport terminal was opened on 27 March 2000 by then Minister of Transport Mary O'Rourke. This facility has 40 check-in desks, five baggage carousels and 14 boarding gates (including six airbridges). There are nearly 20 aircraft parking stands. The car parks can hold 4,200 cars.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Much of the older landside section of the airport has been renovated with new 'Shannon Airport' branding. An airside area renovation and passenger separation project was completed in Summer 2010.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 1986, a United States border preclearance facility was opened at Shannon, eliminating the need to go through immigration on arrival in the United States. In November 2008, it was announced that customs and agriculture inspections would be added, making Shannon the first airport in Europe to offer this service, and to enable passengers to arrive in New York on a "domestic" basis. To have these facilities put in place, a two-storey, extension to the main terminal building was constructed. The facility opened the morning of 5 August 2009.


title: Shannon Airport

text: As of September 2016, Shannon Airport also is the first and only airport in Europe to offer U.S. border preclearance to private aircraft.


title: Shannon Airport

text: In 2021, Shannon Airport deployed CT scanners at passenger security checkpoints, enabling it to lift the restrictions on liquids which had been in place since 2006.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Shannon Airport is the end destination of the N19 national route, which connects to the N18/M18 Limerick–Ennis–Galway route. It is also the western end of European road E20. A dual carriageway section of the N19 was finished in 2004, bypassing the town of Shannon, and a new interchange and dual carriageway north to Ennis were completed in 2007 on the N18 (M18). It is approximately west of Limerick and around south of Galway. Dublin is approximately away and Cork is around away.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Car hire is available in the arrivals hall of the terminal building, with five car rental firms operating at the airport. Private-hire coaches and buses are available from many operators such as Eirebus; these need to be pre-booked and can transport passengers to any destination throughout Ireland.


title: Shannon Airport

text: Shannon Airport offers both short-term and long-term parking within the airport with over 5,000 spaces available. All car parks operate 24 hours and are regularly patrolled by Airport Police.


title: Shannon Airport

text: For many years a rail link to the airport (as a spur from the nearby Limerick–Ennis line) has been proposed, but nothing has materialised. The nearest major stations (Ennis railway station and Limerick railway station) require bus or taxi to connect with. Sixmilebridge is the nearest station to the airport.


title: Shannon Airport

text: As Shannon Airport has been built adjacent to the Shannon Estuary, it is likely to have problems with rising sea levels and high waters in the Shannon. The government is working on plans to protect both the airport and the town.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: Jessica Origliasso (born 25 December 1984) is an Australian singer-songwriter and producer. She and her twin sister formed the pop band The Veronicas.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: Jessica Louise Origliasso was born in Queensland, Australia, the daughter of Italian-Australians, Joseph and Colleen Origliasso. She is older than her twin sister, Lisa, by one minute.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: Lisa and Jessica impressed music executive Hayden Bell with their demo tracks, and were signed to Excalibur Productions Australia as songwriters in 2004. After being signed to Sydney based independent record label Engine Room Recordings, they received funding to travel the world to write and record demos with other songwriters. During this trip, they co-wrote songs that would be released by other artists, including: "What's Going On?" by Casey Donovan, "All About Us" by t.A.T.u. and "Faded" by Kate DeAraugo (also covered by Cascada). By the end of 2004 they travelled to America and signed with Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music for a deal worth $2 million. Taking their name from a line in the film "Heathers" (1988), they called themselves The Veronicas. However the name was also connected to the Archie Comics character Veronica Lodge, leading to the owners suing them for trademark infringement, but resulted in a settlement which included the sisters appearing in the comics.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: The following year, they released their debut album "The Secret Life of..." (2005), which spawned their first major hit "4ever" peaking at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and certified platinum, denoting 70,000 copies shipped in Australia. The album sold almost half a million copies worldwide and earned them an ARIA Award for Best Pop Release. In 2007 they released their second album "Hook Me Up" and its eponymous single scored them their first number one hit on the ARIA Charts and was certified platinum. The following single, "Untouched" became their global breakthrough song, reaching the top twenty of the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and the top twenty in seven other countries, including number one in Ireland. It went on to be certified platinum in the United States, with over one million digital downloads. They embarked on the Revenge Is Sweeter tour, their first to go global, which began in February 2009 and ended December. After concluding the tour, Lisa and Jessica decided to take time off from the group. Having promoted their second album since 2007, they were "ready to move on" wanting to "discover whether they could create separately as well as individually."


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: Jessica reunited with Lisa after their break in 2010 to begin working on The Veronicas third studio album. Their record label, Warner Music, went through major restructuring during this time which caused delays in releasing new music. Wanting to keep fans updated with the progress of their new work, they performed a set at The Viper Room in 2011. Months after this performance, in 2012, The Veronicas finally revealed that they would release a new song called "Lolita" for their new album, which was known as "Life on Mars" at the time. The single reached number twenty three on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified gold. "Life on Mars" was to be released by the end of 2012, however, Warner Music pushed the date back to early 2013, and eventually the record was shelved altogether. Because of this, Lisa and Jessica hired a lawyer in a bid to get out of their contractual obligations with the label and were successful, so by 2013 The Veronicas became an independent act.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: In April 2014, the Veronicas were signed to Sony Music Australia and began putting the finishing touches on their third album, which was renamed "The Veronicas". The first single from the album, "You Ruin Me", debuted atop the ARIA Singles Chart, becoming their first number-one hit in the country since "Hook Me Up" in 2007. It stayed at the apex of the chart for three consecutive weeks and was certified double platinum. The Veronicas released various singles through 2016 to 2020, "In My Blood", "On Your Side", "The Only High", "Think of Me", and "Biting My Tongue". In 2021 they have released two back to back albums; "Godzilla" and "Human". Jessica released her half of The Solo Project in September 2022 called "Seeing Stars". The Veronicas eventually signed with Big Noise in 2022.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: Origliasso was in a relationship with Ruby Rose in 2008. She was in a relationship with Smashing Pumpkins singer and songwriter Billy Corgan from 2010 to 2012; the two remained friends afterward. She dated Badflower singer Josh Katz from 2014 to 2016, and started dating Rose again in November 2016, which later ended in 2018. Jessica got engaged to Alex Smith in 2022.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: In 2006, Origliasso and her sister, Lisa, joined Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, as ambassadors for charity that promotes the protection of animals and their natural environments.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: In January 2009, Origliasso was asked to pose nude for PETA; this came after she was seen on the New York City Subway wearing a faux fur jacket with an anti-fur message on the back. She opted out of the nude shoot, but instead starred in an anti-fur campaign with Veronicas band mate Lisa.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: The twins also joined a "Wear it with Pride" campaign to reform same-sex marriage laws in Australia for the 85 legislative changes made in 2010 to overturn discrimination against same-sex couples and their families. The campaign involved them wearing numbered T-shirts representing each legislative change.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: In 2010, the twins were honoured as Wildlife Warriors of the year, by Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo, for their efforts in publicising wildlife and nature conservation on a worldwide scale.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: Origliasso has been an active voice at same-sex marriage rallies around Australia, for legislative change, as well as speaking out in support of transgender awareness and legislative equality.


title: Jessica Origliasso

text: Origliasso has raised extensive awareness for Sea Shepherd internationally, visiting their ships and performing at their funding events.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern era Olympic Games, except for the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: American athletes have won a total of 2,629 medals (1,060 of them gold) at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 330 (113 of them gold) at the Winter Olympic Games, making the United States the most prolific medal-winning nation in the history of the Olympics. The United States remains one of the only major teams in the world to receive no government funding.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The United States has hosted or was the designated host of the Modern Games on nine occasions, more than any other nation:


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The United States made its Olympic debut in 1896 in Athens, the very first edition of the modern games. The nation performed inconsistently in the pre-World War-I period, primarily due to fielding considerably fewer athletes than host countries, with the exception being the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, where the U.S. achieved its greatest medal haul in history, a record that still stands today. During the interwar period, the U.S. enjoyed its most success, topping both gold and total medal counts at four straight Summer Games, before falling short in the 1936 Berlin games. The next summer Olympics were held in 1948 following World War II. In 1952, the Soviet Union made its Olympic debut, initiating a state-sponsored approach to international sport focused on projecting socio-political superiority. The rapid rise of the Soviet Union to challenge the United States as a leading Olympic power raised questions and suspicion about the means used to achieve this, including the pretense of professional athletes having amateur status and allegations of state-sponsored doping. After 20 years of competition on the Olympic stage, the USSR convincingly topped the medal chart at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. After that, the U.S. would not top the medal table in non-boycotted games until the 1996 Summer Olympics, five years after the USSR collapsed. A bright spot for the United States was the 1984 games in Los Angeles, where the U.S. set a record for most gold medals won in a single Olympics (83), buoyed by the Soviet-led boycott. Coincident with a drive by the International Olympic Committee toward gender parity beginning in the 1990s, the U.S.’s fortunes improved, and the nation topped the medal table in the Summer Olympics six times since 1992 and placed second on two occasions.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: In contrast to its summer Olympics status, the United States was not a power in the Winter Games until the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Hosting the games in 2002 boosted the U.S. winter sports program; since then, the country’s athletes have performed consistently well, never placing below fourth in the medal count. The nation won the most medals (37) at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver but dropped to 23 medals at the most recent 2018 games in Pyeongchang.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: <nowiki>*</nowiki>"This table does not include two medals – one silver awarded in the ice hockey and one bronze awarded in the figure skating events at the 1920 Summer Olympics."


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The United States has never won an Olympic medal in the following current summer sports or disciplines: badminton, handball, rhythmic gymnastics, table tennis, and trampoline gymnastics.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: <nowiki>*</nowiki>"This table includes two medals – one silver awarded in the ice hockey and one bronze awarded in the figure skating events at the 1920 Summer Olympics."


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The very first modern Olympic Games that were held in Athens, Greece saw the Americans fielding 14 athletes that competed in three sports. The hosts, on the other hand, had 169 athletes competing and won 46 medals. The American team did its best, but managed to grab only 20 medals, being dwarfed by an enormous Greek team. However, the United States managed to get the most gold medals, 11, edging Greece that secured 10 golds. That allowed Team USA to finish first in the gold medal tally. James Connolly became the first modern Olympic champion by winning the triple jump, and Thomas Burke grabbed three gold medals in various track events, assuming the title of the most successful athlete of the 1896 Games.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: At the 1900 Paris Olympics, the US team featured 75 athletes, a significant increase compared to 1896, but still considerably less than the French hosts that fielded 720 competitors. The most notable of all American participants was Margaret Abbott who became the first female American Olympic champion by winning the women's golf. The vast majority of American medals were won in the sport of athletics where US athletes clinched 16 gold and 39 medals overall. Team USA won only 8 medals outside of track, four of them in golf. Overall, France dominated the medal standings, winning 29 gold and 112 total medals. The United States ranked second with 19 and 48, respectively, showing great efficiency, despite having significantly less athletes.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri were the first ever Olympic Games held outside of Europe.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Jesse Owens achieved international fame at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany by winning four gold medals: in the 100 meters, long jump, 200 meters, and 4 × 100-meter relay, disproving the Nazi theory of Aryan racial superiority in the process.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The 1948 London Olympics marked the first time that the newly communist countries, that were occupied by the Soviet Union after WW2, competed in the games. The Soviets themselves declined to compete, sending only observers, after a long hesitation that saw Soviet leader Joseph Stalin demanding guarantees from his sports officials that the USSR would beat the US in the medal standings. The Soviet officials told him that chances were 50/50, and Stalin ultimately rejected the idea of competing in 1948. With its newest political rival absent, the United States comfortably dominated the games, winning 38 gold and 84 total medals, 22 gold and 40 total medals more than the runner-up Sweden. The most medals were won in track and field, 27, and swimming, 15. The US basketball team won its second consecutive gold medal, defeating France in the final, 65–21.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: In 1952, Helsinki saw the Soviets sending a team for the first time. This was a beginning of a new era, as the Soviet Union would go on to dominate the Olympics for the next four decades. The Soviets viewed the Olympics as international battlefield, where they can achieve their political goals by winning medals, thus proving their system's superiority. The Soviet authorities also significantly bent the amateur rules, that were in place at the time, by providing state-funding to their athletes who trained full-time and, unlike American self-financed amateurs, were "de facto" professionals. That would start a significant controversy, that will result in the amateur rules being abolished, though only in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, meaning that the Soviets benefited from those rules throughout their Olympic history. The United States still topped the medal count at these games, winning 40 gold and 76 total medals, 22 gold and 5 total medals more than the Soviets who finished second. American athletes won 31 medals in track and field, their most successful sport. US basketball team won its third consecutive gold, twice defeating the Soviets in the process, American boxers won all five finals they entered, and American weightlifters edged their Soviet rivals 4 to 3 in terms of gold medals, with the two nations sweeping all seven events in the sport.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Melbourne hosted the Olympics in 1956. There were calls for the expulsion of the Soviet Union following their invasion of Hungary, but the International Olympic Committee decided not to pursue any action. As a result, some nations boycotted the games in protest of the Soviets' presence, and the Hungarians themselves became engaged in a violent brawl with their Soviet counterparts in a water polo game, an event that was instantly called Blood in the Water. The US performance at the games was relatively successful, though it was getting harder and harder to compete with the Soviet machine. As a result, the Americans earned 32 gold and 78 total medals (second place in the medal standings), 5 gold and 24 total medals less than the first-placed Soviets. The US contingent was particularly successful in track and field, where American athletes amassed 31 medals. On the other hand, the US won only 2 golds in swimming, being unable to stop the Australian domination of the swimming events at these games. In weightlifting, the Americans and Soviets once again won all seven events, once again with a 4 to 3 ratio in favor of the US team. In boxing, the Soviets won 3 golds, while the Americans only managed to win two events. However, it was gymnastics where the USSR achieved its greatest success, winning 11 out of 17 events and guaranteeing the first place in the medal rankings. The US basketball team won its fourth consecutive gold, beating the Soviets in the final game, 89–55.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The 1960 Rome Olympics saw the Americans losing their grip on their traditionally successful sports, such as track and field and weightlifting. On the other hand, boxing, swimming (where the Americans won 9 gold medals, while being controversially denied gold in the 100 meters freestyle, despite showing the best time), and wrestling produced unexpectedly good results, which somewhat helped to compensate for what was lost in other sports. In track and field, the Soviets won 11 golds, only one less that the Americans. It is worth mentioning that the US team encountered many problems throughout the meet, such as a controversial disqualification of their gold medal-winning men's 4x100 relay team. In weightlifting, the Soviets, with the help of their state-of-the-art doping program, won five out of seven events, leaving the US with only one gold. 10 Soviet golds in gymnastics didn't surprise anyone, as the nation had always been a gymnastics powerhouse, but it did mean that the Soviets beat the Americans in the medal standings for the second straight summer games. The US basketball team, however, met the pre-tournament expectations and won its fifth consecutive gold medal, a noble feat, given that they had to compete against veteran pros from the USSR. The final result, 43 gold and 103 total medals for the Soviets to 34 gold and 71 total medals for the Americans, showed that America was no longer a leading force in Olympic competition.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: There was some redemption for the US at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, as the nation returned to the top of the gold medal count for the first time since 1952. Particularly successful was the US swimming team that won 13 out of available 18 golds and shattered 9 world records. In track and field, the Americans also improved on their 1960 performance, winning 14 gold and 24 total medals, while the Soviets left Japan with 5 gold and 18 total medals, a significant downturn compared to their 1960 results. The Soviets, however, continued to dominate Olympic weightlifting, and, with the American program falling apart, the USSR produced four golds and three silvers. The Soviet Union hoped to replicate that success in gymnastics and wrestling, the sports that, together with weightlifting, were strongly associated with their athletic prowess. However, they encountered a zealous resistance from the Japanese, who used their home-field advantage to stun the Soviets, beating them five to three in wrestling golds, and winning five gymnastics championships to their four. Thus, Japan had a major influence on the US–USSR medals race, and most certainly helped the Americans edge their biggest rivals, while also managing to produce its best ever medal output and finishing in third place. For the Americans, despite their dismal performance in boxing where they achieved only one gold, the 1964 Olympics were a definite success, with the nation winning 36 gold and 90 total medals compared to the Soviet tally of 30 gold and 96 total medals. Therefore, the US topped the gold medal count, finishing second in the total medal count, while the USSR topped the total medal count, finishing second in the gold medal count. The US basketball team won its sixth consecutive gold, beating the Soviets in the final, 73–59.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The 1968 Mexico Olympics became the most successful summer games for the US in the post-war era. American athletes amassed 45 gold and 107 total medals, 16 gold and 16 total medals more than the second-placed Soviets. The US swimming team dominated the competition, winning a staggering 51 medals and sweeping the podium on five occasions. The Americans also managed to medal in every single of 29 swimming events, thus achieving a unique feat. The US track and field team pulled off a stellar performance as well with 15 gold and 28 total medals. Overall, swimming and athletics accounted for more than 70% of all US medals and ensured the first place in the medal table for the Americans, their second consecutive first-place finish in terms of gold medals, and their first finish at the top of the overall medal table since 1952. In other sports, however, the performance of American athletes was less convincing. The US weightlifting team continued to fade away, winning just one medal (compared to 7 in 1956), American boxers won 7 medals, though only two of them gold, US divers won 6 medals, and the men's volleyball team managed to stun the defending champions from the Soviet Union, beating them in five sets, but still finished out of medals; Soviets ultimately won gold, with their lone loss being to the US. In gymnastics, Japan continued to frustrate the Soviets, once again surpassing them in the medal standings. Last but not least, the US basketball team won its seventh consecutive gold medal, a feat not matched by any other Olympic team in ball sports. Very few would have assumed that this was the last time that the US finished first in the medal table in a fully attended Summer Olympics until 1996 (the Americans would top the medal standings in 1984 with the Soviet Union and its satellites boycotting).


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The Munich Olympics saw the Soviet Union begin its streak of topping the medal count at five consecutive summer games in which they participated (1972–1992, though in 1992 they would compete as the "Unified Team" as the USSR dissolved half a year prior to the games, and the newly independent countries decided to compete together). The sporting nature of the event was largely overshadowed by the Munich massacre in the second week, in which eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and a West German police officer at Olympic village were killed by Black September terrorists. There were multiple calls to cancel the games after the terrorist attack, but the IOC declined. From a sporting standpoint, these games were one of the most controversial in history, with many accusing the organizing committee of anti-Americanism and trying to appease the Soviet Union and East Germany. Indeed, these were one of the strangest Olympics ever for American athletes. US world record holders in the 100 meters were given the wrong starting time and were unable to compete in the event, thus paving the way for a Soviet to win. In swimming, the US gold medal winner in the 400 meters freestyle was stripped of his medal for using his prescription asthma medication, also depriving him of a chance at multiple medals. US boxers complained that they were judged unfairly in the bouts against their communist counterparts. In shooting, a US athlete initially won the 50 meters rifle only to be relegated to silver after a "review". Finally, in the most controversial event of the games, and one of the most controversial events of all time, the US basketball team was denied gold after apparently winning the final match against the Soviet Union. The final three seconds of the game were replayed three times until the Soviets came out on top. The Americans did not accept the silver medals, believing that they were robbed. This was the first US loss in Olympic basketball history and it ended the Americans' 63-game winning streak in Olympic basketball. In general, the US team greatly underperformed at these games, winning only 6 gold medals in track and field to the East Germans' 8 and Soviets' 9, though the Americans still won the most total medals, 22. In boxing, the Cubans and Soviets dominated, winning three and two championships, respectively, while the US won only one gold and four medals overall (compared to the Soviets' two and Cubans' five). In diving, the Americans won three medals; in soccer, the USSR and GDR fixed a bronze medal game, playing a tie, so both teams received bronze; in gymnastics, the Soviets edged their old rivals Japan to top the medal count; in weightlifting, the Soviets and Bulgarians won three golds each; in wrestling, the US team surprised with three golds in freestyle, yet the Soviets still dwarfed their medal tally with nine golds in freestyle and Greco-Roman (14–6 in total medals). In water polo, the Americans struck bronze, tying the eventual gold medalists the Soviet Union in the final round. Swimming was the only sport where the American team did not disappoint, winning 17 gold and 43 total medals, a good result, but still less than four years earlier. American women dominated swimming for the last time until 1992, as by 1976 they would be overtaken by East German dopers.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The Eastern Bloc dominated the 1976 Montreal Olympics, with seven countries placing in the top ten of the medal table. The United States team was relegated to a third place in the medal standings for the first time in its history. This was an Olympics of contrasts: the US men's swimming team, despite the generally dismal showing of the overall delegation, swept 12 gold and 27 total medals in the 13 events that were on the program and broke 11 world records in the process (arguably the most dominant performance of any swimming team in history), while the US women's swimming team, on the other hand, fell victim to what was later shown to be a pervasive East German doping program. They still managed to win a gold medal, in an upset of the East Germans in the 4x100 freestyle relay. The event was held on the last day of the swimming program, and the American women were risking being deprived of gold for the first time in US Olympic history. The victory was somewhat overlooked at the time, but since the early 1990s, when public revelation of the doping program began, their gold medal is considered to be one of the most improbable upsets of all time. In track and field, both the US men's and women's team were overwhelmed by East Germans who secured a bulk of medals in the signature sports of the US, resulting in the USSR topping the medal table. The US boxing team surprised everyone, advancing to six gold medal bouts and winning five of them, drawing parallels to a stellar 1952 team that also took five golds. The achievement was even more notable due to the fact that the American boxers were significantly younger and less experienced than their Cuban and Soviet counterparts. In other sports, US divers won five medals, including two golds; the US equestrian team took home four medals; American shooters won three medals, including a historic silver by a woman in the mixed 50 meters rifle three positions; US freestyle wrestlers advanced to four gold medal bouts, yet won only one of them (all four were against the Soviets), concluding the meet with six medals overall. The US men's basketball team reclaimed the gold medal, while the women's team won a surprising silver, being ranked no higher than sixth prior to the start of the tournament. The Soviets and East Germans were unstoppable in canoeing, gymnastics, rowing, weightlifting and wrestling, going 1–2 in the overall medal standings (49 gold and 125 total medals for the Soviets, and 40 gold and 90 total medals for East Germans). The US won medals in 14 sports, finishing third with 34 gold and 94 total medals. The most successful day for the Americans was July 31 when they won 8 gold and 18 total medals.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The 1980 Summer Olympics marked another first for the United States, as the nation led by far the largest and most significant boycott in the Olympic history. The boycott was motivated by the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as well as by flagrant human rights violations in the USSR, and the regime's anti-Semitic policies. The Soviet state-run media ridiculed the Americans as sore losers who couldn't get over the fact that they were no longer a perennial Olympic power, and simply didn't want to be embarrassed by the Soviets who would thrash them in the medal count. Indeed, all medal predictions pointed to an inevitable Soviet victory with 55–60 gold medals. East Germans were forecast to win 40–45 gold medals, while the Americans would wind up in third place with 30–35 golds. However, the world would never know what would have happened, as the United States and 65 other countries chose not to attend the Moscow Games, leaving them with the smallest attendance since 1956. Predictably, the great majority of the medals were taken by the host country and East Germany in what was the most skewed medal tally since 1904. The Soviets amassed 80 gold (all-time record) and 195 total (second-best result after the US in 1904) medals in their anticlimactic performance.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: In 1984, Los Angeles witnessed what was considered a retaliatory boycott by the Soviets and their satellites, although the Soviets cited security concerns and "chauvinistic sentiments and an anti-Soviet hysteria being whipped up in the United States." However, no threat to Eastern Bloc athletes was ever discovered, and the athletes from the Eastern Bloc country that did attend the 1984 games in Los Angeles—Romania—encountered no problems, and in fact were widely cheered above all other visiting nations at the Opening Ceremonies when they marched into the Coliseum (Romania ended up finishing third in overall medal count at the Games). The move by the Soviets left many "dumbfounded", as it was expected that they would try to thrash the US on their soil, thus achieving a significant propaganda victory. The forecasts again heavily favored the Soviet Union, with the Soviet athletes being expected to rack up 60–65 gold medals compared to 35–45 by the second-placed Americans. That didn't happen. Furthermore, despite the Soviet boycott, a record 140 nations (including China that participated for the first time since 1952) attended the games.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: There were fears that the Soviet Union would boycott the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul as well because South Korea had no diplomatic relations with the USSR, which recognized and supported only North Korea. However, the policies of Perestroika that were initiated by Gorbachev in 1985 led to the Soviet participation in the games. Cuba, clearly not understanding such a betrayal, decided to boycott the Olympics on its own, impacting the boxing field as a result. The Soviet Union was steadily moving towards its ultimate collapse but its sporting empire was still in its prime. The Soviets and their close allies from East Germany utterly dominated the games, winning 55 and 37 gold medals respectively (132 and 102 total medals).


title: United States at the Olympics

text: During the Cold War period the Americans did their best to challenge the Soviets, but the playing field wasn't level. The Soviet athletes were funded by the state and trained full-time, while the US strictly obeyed the amateur rules, and its athletes were primarily self-financed students who were significantly younger and less experienced than the Soviet veterans. In addition to that, the Soviets developed a state-sponsored doping system, and supplied performance-enhancing drugs to the vast majority of their athletes. Furthermore, they heavily invested in the development of a similar system in their satellite nation, East Germany, with a specific goal of making East Germans highly competitive in swimming and track and field, so that they can reduce the number of medals the Americans win in their signature sports. Unfortunately for the US, the Soviet strategy worked, and the gap between the USSR and US widened every four years until the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1972, the Soviets won 50 gold and 99 total medals to the Americans' 33 and 94; in 1976, the USSR amassed 49 gold and 125 total medals to the Americans' 34 and 94; 1980 Olympics were boycotted by the US and its allies, the Soviets retaliated in 1984 by boycotting the LA Olympics together with their satellites; finally, in 1988, the USSR won 55 gold and 132 total medals to the Americans' 36 and 94 (the US finished third at those games, losing even to the East Germans). In 1992, the Soviets still fielded a team despite the dissolution of their state, yet the margin of their victory over the Americans became narrower: 45 gold and 112 total medals to the Americans' 37 and 108. By 1996, every former Soviet republic formed its own National Olympic Committee, and the countries participated as independent nations, with Russia assuming the Soviet place in the IOC and inheriting Soviet achievements as by far the largest of the former Soviet republics. So, in 1996, the Americans finally managed to return to the top spot in the medal rankings, winning 44 gold and 101 total medals compared to 26 gold and 63 total medals won by the second-placed Russians, thanks to the partial abolition of the amateur rules in the early 1990s (the American athletes still weren't state-sponsored, unlike their foreign counterparts, but they were now eligible for prize money and sponsorships). They were still disadvantaged by these rules in those sports where they weren't abolished (i.e., boxing, baseball, where Cubans continued to field state-sponsored pros against American amateurs), but the situation started improving.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: U.S. athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympics of the modern era. The United States, represented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020, the Games were postponed to July 23 to August 8, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The opening ceremony flag-bearers for the United States were baseball player Eddy Alvarez and basketball player Sue Bird. Javelin thrower Kara Winger was the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony. When USA Gymnastics announced that 2016 Olympic all-around champion Biles would not participate in the gymnastics all-around final, the spotlight fell on her American team-mates. The U.S. had won the event in each of the last five Olympic Games: a formidable winning streak was on the line. Sunisa Lee embraced the moment and stood tall to deliver for her country. She totaled 57.433 to hold off Rebeca Andrade of Brazil (57.298) to clinch the title. Lee also made history of her own. With victory in the all-around she became the first Hmong American gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal. With a silver in the women's team final and bronze in the individual uneven bars Lee left Tokyo with an impressive three Olympic medals. Lydia Jacoby Alaska's swimming sweetheart made history when she was the first Alaskan swimmer selected to make the U.S. Olympic swim team. She stunned the world to secure victory in the women's 100m breaststroke. Recent major champion Nelly Korda followed the winning ways of compatriot Xander Schauffele to take home gold in the women's golf competition. The 2.01m-tall thrower Ryan Crouser retained his Olympic title in the men's shot put and did so in some style, setting an Olympic record three times.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: At the 2022 Winter Olympics, a total of 25 medals meant Team USA won two more medals than in 2018, although it still signifies an overall decline after 37 medals in 2010 and 28 in 2014. Notable successes included Jessie Diggins becoming the first American female skier to win individual cross-country medals, figure skater Nathan Chen breaking the short program world record on route to the Olympic gold medal in the men’s singles, Erin Jackson becoming the first black female athlete to win speed skating gold, and Chloe Kim defending her title in the snowboarding women’s halfpipe. Veteran snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis, who last medaled in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, was the only U.S. athlete with multiple gold medals, winning the women's snowboard cross event, and sharing the gold with teammate Nick Baumgartner in the mixed snowboard cross event.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The exclusion of professionals caused several controversies throughout the history of the modern Olympics. The 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon champion Jim Thorpe was stripped of his medals, when it was discovered that he had played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics. His medals were posthumously restored by the IOC in 1983 on compassionate grounds.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries eroded the ideology of the pure amateur. It put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but all of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis. The situation greatly disadvantaged American athletes, and was a major factor in the decline of American medal hauls in the 1970s and 1980s. As a result, the Olympics shifted away from amateurism, as envisioned by Pierre de Coubertin. They began allowing participation of professional athletes, but only in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its influence within the International Olympic Committee.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: United States has had eight Olympic medals stripped for doping violations. In all cases, the US government or the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) had nothing to do with it, and sanctioned athletes acted on their own. In the case of swimmer Rick DeMont, the USOC has recognized his gold medal performance in the 1972 Summer Olympics in 2001, but only the IOC has the power to restore his medal, and it has as of 2017 refused to do so. DeMont originally won the gold medal in 4:00.26. Following the race, the IOC stripped him of his gold medal after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax. The positive test following the 400-meter freestyle final also deprived him of a chance at multiple medals, as he was not permitted to swim in any other events at the 1972 Olympics, including the 1,500-meter freestyle for which he was the then-current world record-holder. Before the Olympics, DeMont had properly declared his asthma medications on his medical disclosure forms, but the USOC had not cleared them with the IOC's medical committee.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: In 2003, Wade Exum, the United States Olympic Committee's director of drug control administration from 1991 to 2000, gave copies of documents to "Sports Illustrated" that revealed that some 100 American athletes failed drug tests from 1988 to 2000, arguing that they should have been prevented from competing in the Olympics but were nevertheless cleared to compete; among those athletes were Carl Lewis, Joe DeLoach and Floyd Heard. Before showing the documents to "Sports Illustrated", Exum tried to use them in a lawsuit against USOC, accusing the organization of racial discrimination and wrongful termination against him and cover-up over the failed tests. His case was summarily dismissed by the Denver federal Court for lack of evidence. The USOC claimed his case "baseless" as he himself was the one in charge of screening the anti-doping test program of the organization and clarifying that the athletes were cleared according to the rules.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Carl Lewis broke his silence on allegations that he was the beneficiary of a drugs cover-up, admitting he had failed tests for banned substances, but claiming he was just one of "hundreds" of American athletes who were allowed to escape bans, concealed by the USOC. Lewis has acknowledged that he failed three tests during the 1988 US Olympic trials, which under international rules at the time should have prevented him from competing in the 1988 Summer Olympics. Former athletes and officials came out against the USOC cover-up. "For so many years I lived it. I knew this was going on, but there's absolutely nothing you can do as an athlete. You have to believe governing bodies are doing what they are supposed to do. And it is obvious they did not," said former American sprinter and 1984 Olympic champion, Evelyn Ashford.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Exum's documents revealed that Carl Lewis had tested positive three times at the 1988 Olympics trials for minimum amounts of pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine, which were banned stimulants. Bronchodilators are also found in cold medication. Due to the rules, his case could have led to disqualification from the Seoul Olympics and suspension from competition for six months. The levels of the combined stimulants registered in the separate tests were 2 ppm, 4 ppm and 6 ppm. Lewis defended himself, claiming that he had accidentally consumed the banned substances. After the supplements that he had taken were analyzed to prove his claims, the USOC accepted his claim of inadvertent use, since a dietary supplement he ingested was found to contain "Ma Huang", the Chinese name for Ephedra (ephedrine is known to help weight loss). Fellow Santa Monica Track Club teammates Joe DeLoach and Floyd Heard were also found to have the same banned stimulants in their systems, and were cleared to compete for the same reason. The highest level of the stimulants Lewis recorded was 6 ppm, which was regarded as a positive test in 1988 but is now regarded as negative test. The acceptable level has been raised to ten parts per million for ephedrine and twenty-five parts per million for other substances. According to the IOC rules at the time, positive tests with levels lower than 10 ppm were cause of further investigation but not immediate ban. Neal Benowitz, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco who is an expert on ephedrine and other stimulants, agreed that "These [levels] are what you'd see from someone taking cold or allergy medicines and are unlikely to have any effect on performance." Following Exum's revelations the IAAF acknowledged that at the 1988 Olympic Trials the USOC indeed followed the correct procedures in dealing with eight positive findings for ephedrine and ephedrine-related compounds in low concentration. Additionally, in 1988 the federation reviewed the relevant documents with the athletes' names undisclosed and stated that "the medical committee felt satisfied, however, on the basis of the information received that the cases had been properly concluded by the USOC as 'negative cases' in accordance with the rules and regulations in place at the time and no further action was taken".


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The United States has had eight Olympic medals stripped, which is fifth in the ranking of countries with the most stripped medals.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Russia (in all its incarnations) and the United States have won more Olympic medals than any other nation. Russia topped the overall medal count at seven Summer Olympics, and nine Winter Olympics, while the United States placed first at eighteen Summer Olympics, and one Winter Olympics. The countries developed a strong rivalry during the Cold War. While the tensions eased in the 1990s, the relations deteriorated in 2014 and 2016.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Since the 1952 Summer Olympics, the United States has won 1,986 Summer and Winter Olympics medals, the most in that period, while Russia has won 1,973 medals, the second most in that period.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Medal totals of the Soviet Union/Unified Team/Russia/ROC and the United States since 1952, when the Soviet Union started to compete at the Summer Games.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Overall, the United States (1896–1976, 1984–present) has won 1,061 gold and 2,636 total medals, and Russia (1900, 1908–1912, 1952—1980, 1988–present) has won 610 gold and 1,627 total medals.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Medal totals of the Soviet Union/Unified Team/Russia/Olympic Athletes from Russia and the United States since 1956, when the Soviet Union started to compete at the Winter Games.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: Overall, the United States (1924–present) has won 113 gold and 330 total medals, and Russia (1956–present) has won 142 gold and 376 total medals.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The United States and Soviet Union sporting adversary reached its peak during the Cold War. The U.S. men's team was considered a favorite in the run-up to the 1972 Games. Since the first Olympic basketball tournament at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the Americans hadn't lost a single game, winning seven consecutive gold medals in a dominating fashion. Their record reached an unprecedented 63-0 before the final game. Since the 1952 tournament, the Soviet team challenged the Americans, winning silver in 1952, 1956, 1960, and 1964, and bronze in 1968. Outside of the Olympics, the Soviets had already defeated the U.S. team in the World Championship play. However, the Americans never sent their best collegiate players to that tournament.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: It is important to note that the Olympics strictly prohibited any involvement of professional athletes at the time. The Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries used that rule to their advantage, listing all its top players as soldiers or workers, which allowed them to breach the amateur rules. Western experts classified these athletes as professionals. On the other hand, leading American players were unable to play in the Olympics, as they were officially professional and played in the NBA. That disadvantage hadn't prevented the Americans from winning, as they won the first seven Olympic basketball tournaments without a single defeat.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The confrontation of the Soviet Union and United States on the basketball court was deeply connected to the confrontation on the political front. Many American viewers assumed that 1972 Games were openly anti-American. There were rumors that the Communist party had bribed the officials, because they wanted the USSR to win 50 gold medals at these Olympics, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The United States team was the youngest in history. American players usually participated in the Olympics once before turning pro, and the U.S. team always had new players every four years. The 1972 team didn't have a clear leader. A rising star Bill Walton declined an invitation to participate. Nevertheless, the team was heavily favored, featuring such players as Doug Collins or Tommy Burleson (the tallest player among all teams).


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The young American team was confronted by a veteran Soviet team, featuring stars Sergei Belov, Modestas Paulauskas, and Alexander Belov. The players had played together for more than seven years. For Gennadi Volnov it was the fourth Olympic appearance.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The Soviets performed strongly at the beginning, winning the first half 26:21. The Soviets kept the Americans 4–8 points behind during the first half.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: In the second half Soviets targeted Dwight Jones, as they considered him the leader of the U.S. team. On the 28th minute he was provoked by Mikheil Korkia and responded. Both players were sent off. The Soviets were satisfied, as they deemed Korkia less significant for them than Jones for the Americans. The next minute Alexander Belov hit Jim Brewer during the free-throw, and Brewer was unable to continue playing. According to the Americans, the referees did not notice the foul.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: With 10 minutes left, the Soviets increased their lead to 10 points. After that Americans finally started to press the Soviets. It helped them to cut the deficit to 1 point. Soviet players started to feel nervous. With less than a minute left, Doug Collins stole a Soviet pass at halfcourt and was fouled hard by Zurab Sakandelidze as he drove toward the basket, being knocked down into the basket stanchion. With three seconds remaining on the game clock, Collins was awarded two free throws and sank the first to tie the score at 49. Just as Collins lifted the ball to begin his shooting motion in attempting the second free throw, the horn from the scorer's table sounded, marking the beginning of a chain of events that left the game's final three seconds mired in controversy. Although the unexpected sound of the horn caused lead referee Renato Righetto to turn away from the free throw attempt and look over to the scorer's table, play was not stopped. Collins never broke his shooting motion and continued with his second free throw, scoring to put the U.S. ahead by a score of 50:49. Immediately following Collins' free throws, the Soviets inbounded the ball and failed to score. Soviet coaches claimed that they had requested a timeout before Collins' foul shots. The referees ordered the clock reset to three seconds, and the game's final seconds replayed. The horn sounded as a length-of-the-court Soviet pass was being released from the inbounding player, the pass missed its mark, and the American players began celebrating. Nevertheless, the final three seconds were replayed for a third time. This time, the Soviets' Alexander Belov and the USA's Kevin Joyce and Jim Forbes went up for the pass, and Belov caught the long pass from Ivan Edeshko near the American basket. Belov then laid the ball in for the winning points as the buzzer sounded.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The Americans regained the basketball crown in 1976, but their ability to stay competitive with college players against seasoned professionals from the Soviet Union was decreasing. In 1988, the Soviets beat the United States once again, eliminating them in the semifinals. The 1988 game was a turning point in international basketball. FIBA officials started to realize that amateur rules were extremely unfair, and in 1989, NBA players were finally allowed in the Olympics.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The 1980 hockey game between the U.S. and USSR was dubbed the "Miracle on Ice", when American college players defeated the heavily favored seasoned professionals from the Soviet Union, on the way to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet Union had won the gold medal in five of the six previous Winter Olympic Games, and were the favorites to win once more. Though ice hockey is not a major sport in most areas of the United States, the "Miracle" is often listed as one of the all-time greatest American sporting achievements. The U.S. also won the gold medal in the 1960 Games at Squaw Valley, California, defeating the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden along the way. However, since this victory is not as well known as the 1980 win, it has come to be known as the "Forgotten Miracle".


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The U.S. and the Soviet Union next met at the Olympics in 1988. As in 1980, the Soviets were represented by their star-studded veterans, while the Americans fielded a team of college players. The Soviets won the encounter 7–5 and went on to win the gold medal, while the U.S. placed seventh.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The two teams met again at the 1992 Olympics in a semi-final match. There, the Unified Team (the successor to the Soviet Union) won 5–2. While some stars had left the Soviet Union to play in the NHL, the Unified Team still boasted many veterans from their domestic professional league, while the Americans were represented primarily by college players. The Unified Team eventually won the gold medal, while the U.S. placed fourth.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The U.S. and Russia (the successor to the Unified Team) met twice at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The Americans won both games 5–2 en route to the tournament championship.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The U.S., coached by Herb Brooks, and Russia, coached by Slava Fetisov, met twice in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which included a 2–2 round-robin draw and a 3–2 semi-final win for the Americans. The semi-final match was played 22 years to the day after the "Miracle on Ice" game. The U.S. eventually won silver, while Russia won bronze.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The two teams met in the quarterfinals of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, with the U.S. earning a decisive 5–3 victory.


title: United States at the Olympics

text: The U.S. and Russia played each other in a round-robin game at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The game was tied 2–2 after overtime before the Americans prevailed in an eight-round shootout, with T.J. Oshie scoring on 4 of 6 attempts for the United States. The match has been dubbed by some as the "Marathon on Ice" due to its length. Both teams, however, failed to medal; the Americans finished fourth (losing in the semis to Canada and to Finland in the bronze medal game), while the Russians placed fifth (losing to Finland in the quarterfinals).


title: Secret Obsession

text: Secret Obsession is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed by Peter Sullivan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kraig Wenman. It stars Brenda Song, Mike Vogel, Dennis Haysbert, and Ashley Scott.


title: Secret Obsession

text: On a rainy night, a woman (Brenda Song) flees down the street from an unknown pursuer. She is struck by a car, leaving her injured and unconscious. She wakes up in the hospital with amnesia, recalling nothing about the incident or her life prior. A man by her bedside (Mike Vogel) introduces himself as Russell Williams, her husband, and says that her name is Jennifer. To help her regain memories, he shows her photos of her life, telling her that her parents died in a fire two years ago, that she had quit her job, and that she rarely talks to her friends anymore.


title: Secret Obsession

text: Detective Frank Page (Dennis Haysbert), obsessed with his work after failing to find his own daughter's kidnapper, investigates Jennifer's accident and grows suspicious of Russell, who drives a truck similar to one seen in the vicinity where Jennifer was hit. After Jennifer is discharged, Russell takes her to their secluded home. Jennifer is haunted by brief flashes of memories from the rainy night of her accident. She becomes uneasy by Russell's strange behavior and realizes that he has been locking her inside the house at night. She also notices that most of the photos in her home have been manipulated. Frank's investigation leads him to Jennifer's parents' home, where he finds their rotting corpses. He learns from Jennifer's former employer that "Russell" is actually Ryan Gaerity, a temperamental worker fired over two months ago.


title: Secret Obsession

text: While Ryan is out, Jennifer finds her own ID in his wallet, which she uses to unlock his computer. She finds images of her actual husband Russell (Daniel Booko) and realizes the danger she's in. Before she can escape, Ryan knocks her unconscious and chains her to the bed while he goes out to get supplies. When he returns, the real Russell's corpse is revealed to be in his car trunk.


title: Secret Obsession

text: Frank arrives at their home and tries to rescue Jennifer, but Ryan knocks him out, locking him in a freezer. He rants to Jennifer that he had loved her for years but her lack of reciprocation and marriage to Russell enraged him, leading him to kill Russell and take Jennifer for himself. Jennifer manages to escape into the forest with Ryan giving chase. Knowing that Jennifer will never love him, Ryan decides to kill her with his gun, but Frank tackles him before he can shoot her, and Jennifer takes the gun and shoots Ryan in the arm. A wounded Ryan desperately attempts to run towards Jennifer to retrieve the gun, but Jennifer fires another shot, ultimately killing Ryan.


title: Secret Obsession

text: Three months later, Frank gives Jennifer a note from her late husband that he had found during the investigation. As she drives, leaving for San Jose, Russell's voice narrates the note, telling her how much he loves her.


title: Secret Obsession

text: The film was released on July 18, 2019 by Netflix. On October 17, 2019, Netflix announced that the film had been viewed by over 40 million viewers after its release on their platform.


title: Secret Obsession

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average of . The website's critical consensus reads: "While it may offer some thrills and unintentional laughs, "Secret Obsession" is mostly a formulaic and dumb thriller."


title: Gazebo

text: A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands.


title: Gazebo

text: The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th century: perhaps humorously from gaze, in imitation of Latin future tenses ending in -ebo: compare with lavabo." L. L. Bacon put forward a derivation from "Casbah", a Muslim quarter around the citadel in Algiers. W. Sayers proposed Hispano-Arabic "qushaybah", in a poem by Cordoban poet Ibn Quzman (d. 1160).


title: Gazebo

text: The word "gazebo" appears in a mid-18th century English book by the architects John and William Halfpenny: "Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste". There Plate 55, "Elevation of a Chinese Gazebo", shows "a Chinese Tower or Gazebo, situated on a Rock, and raised to a considerable Height, and a Gallery round it to render the Prospect more complete."


title: Gazebo

text: George Washington had a small eight-sided garden structure at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson wrote about gazebos, then called summerhouses or pavilions.