The Russian men’s ice hockey team fell agonizingly short in its quest to retain its Olympic title, losing a tense final against Finland in Beijing on Sunday.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) stars had been hoping to make it back-to-back gold medals following their success in PyeongChang four years ago.
They got off to an ideal start when Mikhail Grigorenko gave them the lead just over seven minutes into the first period at the National Indoor Stadium.
But chasing a maiden Olympic gold, the Finns hit back at the 23:28 mark through Ville Pokka, who plays his club hockey in the KHL at Russian team Avangard Omsk.
The Finns continued to pepper the Russian goal with shots and made the scoreline 2-1 when an effort from Marko Anttila deflected in via Hannes Bjorninen early in the third period.
It set things up for a tense conclusion as the Finns pushed to add to that margin before shutting out the ROC in a fraught final few minutes.
Having gone unbeaten throughout the 2022 Games, the Finns celebrated wildly upon capturing a first-ever Olympic ice hockey gold after twice settling for silver in previous years.
“Great team. Great effort. It wasn’t easy for us, but we found a way to win every game,” said 36-year-old veteran Anttila of the triumph.