Soviet Union at the Olympics

Soviet Union at the
Olympics

IOC code URS
NOC Soviet Olympic Committee
Medals
Gold Silver Bronze Total
0 0 0 0
Summer appearances
Winter appearances
Other related appearances
Russian Empire (1900–1912)
Estonia (1920–1936, 1992–)
Latvia (1924–1936, 1992–)
Lithuania (1924–1928, 1992–)
Unified Team (1992)
Armenia (1994–)
Belarus (1994–)
Georgia (1994–)
Kazakhstan (1994–)
Kyrgyzstan (1994–)
Moldova (1994–)
Russia (1994–)
Ukraine (1994–)
Uzbekistan (1994–)
Azerbaijan (1996–)
Tajikistan (1996–)
Turkmenistan (1996–)

The Soviet Union first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and competed at the Games on 18 occasions since then. At six of its nine appearances at the Summer Olympic Games, the team ranked first in the total number of medals won, it was second by this count on the other two. Similarly, the team was ranked first in the medal count seven times and second twice in nine appearances at the Winter Olympic Games.

Following the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War, the Soviet Union did not participate in international sporting events on ideological grounds;[1] however, after World War II, attendance at the Olympic Games came to be seen as a useful method of promoting Communist ideals.[2] The Olympic Committee of the USSR was formed on April 21, 1951, and was recognized by the IOC on its 45th session (May 7, 1951). In the same year, when the Soviet representative Constantin Andrianov became an IOC member, the USSR officially joined the Olympic Movement.

The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki became first Olympic Games for Soviet athletes. On July 20, 1952, the first Olympic gold medal in the history of Soviet sport was won by Nina Romashkova in the women's discus throw. Romashkova's result in this event (51.42 m) was the new Olympic record at that time.

The 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo became the first Winter Olympic Games for Soviet athletes. There the first Winter Olympic gold medal in the history of Soviet sport was won by Lyubov Kozyreva in women's cross-country skiing 10 km event.

The USSR was the host nation for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. These Games were boycotted by the United States and many other countries, and subsequently, the USSR led a boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

Although the USSR ceased to exist on December 26, 1991, The Olympic Committee of the USSR formally existed until March 12, 1992, when it disbanded.

In 1992, 12 of the 15 former Soviet Republics competed together as the Unified Team and marched under the Olympic Flag in the Barcelona Games, where they finished first in the medal rankings. The Unified Team also competed at the Albertville Winter Games earlier in the year (represented by seven of the twelve ex-Republics), and finished second in the medal ranking at those Games.

All Summer and Winter Olympic medals of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire were inherited by Russia, but not combined together with the medal count of the Russian Federation.

Hosted Games

Soviet Union has hosted the Games on one occasion.

Games Host city Dates Nations Participants Events
1980 Summer Olympics Moscow 19 July – 3 August 80 5,179 203

Timeline of participation

Date Team
1900–1912  Russian Empire (RU1)
1920  Estonia (EST)
1924–1936  Latvia (LAT)  Lithuania (LTU)
1952–1988  Soviet Union (URS)
1992–  Unified Team (EUN)  Estonia (EST)  Latvia (LAT)  Lithuania (LTU)
1994–  Armenia (ARM)  Belarus (BLR)  Georgia (GEO)  Kazakhstan (KAZ)  Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)  Moldova (MDA)  Russia (RUS)  Ukraine (UKR)  Uzbekistan (UZB)
1996–  Azerbaijan (AZE)  Tajikistan (TJK)  Turkmenistan (TKM)

Medal tables

*Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Medals by Summer Games

Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
Finland 1952 Helsinki 295 22 30 19 71 2
Australia 1956 Melbourne 283 37 29 32 98 1
Italy 1960 Rome 284 43 29 31 103 1
Japan 1964 Tokyo 319 30 31 35 96 2
Mexico 1968 Mexico City 313 29 32 30 91 2
West Germany 1972 Munich 373 50 27 22 99 1
Canada 1976 Montreal 410 49 41 35 125 1
Soviet Union 1980 Moscow 489 80 69 46 195 1
United States 1984 Los Angeles did not participate
South Korea 1988 Seoul 481 55 31 46 132 1
Total 395 319 296 1010 2

Medals by Winter Games

Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
Italy 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 55 7 3 6 16 1
United States 1960 Squaw Valley 62 7 5 9 21 1
Austria 1964 Innsbruck 69 11 8 6 25 1
France 1968 Grenoble 74 5 5 3 13 2
Japan 1972 Sapporo 78 8 5 3 16 1
Austria 1976 Innsbruck 79 13 6 8 27 1
United States 1980 Lake Placid 86 10 6 6 22 1
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1984 Sarajevo 99 6 10 9 25 2
Canada 1988 Calgary 101 11 9 9 29 1
Total 78 57 59 194 4

Medals by summer sport

  Leading in that sport
Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Gymnastics 73 67 44 184
Athletics 64 55 74 193
Wrestling 62 31 23 116
Weightlifting 39 21 2 62
Canoeing 29 13 9 51
Fencing 18 15 16 49
Shooting 17 15 17 49
Boxing 14 19 18 51
Swimming 12 21 26 59
Rowing 12 20 10 42
Cycling 11 4 9 24
Volleyball 7 4 1 12
Equestrian 6 5 4 15
Judo 5 5 13 23
Modern pentathlon 5 5 5 15
Sailing 4 5 3 12
Diving 4 4 6 14
Basketball 2 4 2 8
Handball 4 1 1 6
Water polo 2 2 3 7
Football 2 0 3 5
Archery 1 3 3 7
Field hockey 0 0 2 2
Total 395 319 296 1010

Medals by winter sport

Sport Gold Silver Bronze Total
Cross country skiing 25 22 21 68
Speed skating 24 17 19 60
Figure skating 10 9 5 24
Biathlon 9 5 5 19
Ice hockey 7 1 1 9
Luge 1 2 3 6
Bobsleigh 1 0 2 3
Ski jumping 1 0 0 1
Nordic combined 0 1 2 3
Alpine skiing 0 0 1 1
Total 78 57 59 194

References

  1. ↑ Keys, Barbara J. (2006), Globalizing Sport: National Rivalry and International Community in the 1930s, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, ISBN 0-674-02326-9 (p. 159)
  2. ↑ O'Mahony, Mike (2006), Sport in the USSR: Physical Culture--Visual Culture, Reaktion Books Ltd, London, ISBN 1-86189-267-5 (p. 19)

See also

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