Soviet Union at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Soviet Union at the Olympic Games
Flag of the Soviet Union IOC code  URS NOC Soviet Olympic Committee
At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble
Competitors	74 (53 men, 21 women) in 8 sports
Flag bearer	Viktor Mamatov (biathlon)
Medals Rank: 2	Gold 5	Silver 5	Bronze 3	Total 13
Olympic history (summary)
Summer Games
1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988
Winter Games
1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988
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 (USSR) competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Aleksandr Tikhonov Nikolay Puzanov Viktor Mamatov Vladimir Gundartsev	Biathlon	Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay
Gold	Liudmila Belousova Oleg Protopopov	Figure skating	Pairs
Gold	Soviet Union men's national ice hockey team Viktor Konovalenko   Oleg Zajcev   Venjamin Alexandrov Viktor Zinger   Igor Romiševskij   Jurij Mojsejev Viktor Blinov   Anatolij Firsov   Jevgeij Mišakov Vitalij Davidov   Vjačeslav Staršinov   Jevgenij Zimin Viktor Kuzkin   Viktor Populanov   Anatolij Ionov Alexandr Ragulin   Vladimir Vikulov   Boris Majorov	Ice hockey	Men's competition
Gold	Vladimir Belousov	Ski jumping	Men's large hill
Gold	Lyudmila Titova	Speed skating	Women's 500 m
Silver	Aleksandr Tikhonov	Biathlon	Men's 20 km
Silver	Vyacheslav Vedenin	Cross-country skiing	Men's 50 km
Silver	Galina Kulakova	Cross-country skiing	Women's 5 km
Silver	Tatiana Zhuk Alexander Gorelik	Figure skating	Pairs
Silver	Lyudmila Titova	Speed skating	Women's 1000 m
Bronze	Vladimir Gundartsev	Biathlon	Men's 20 km
Bronze	Alevtina Kolchina	Cross-country skiing	Women's 5 km
Bronze	Alevtina Kolchina Rita Achkina Galina Kulakova	Cross-country skiing	Women's 3 x 5 km relay

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Vasily Melnikov	Downhill					DSQ	–
Andrey Belokrinkin						2:10.98	49
Viktor Belyakov						2:09.32	40
Andrey Belokrinkin	Giant Slalom	1:56.47	59	1:56.36	46	3:52.83	52
Viktor Belyakov		1:52.72	54	1:53.55	39	3:49.27	46
Vasily Melnikov		1:52.42	42	1:56.55	47	3:48.97	45

Men's slalom

Athlete	Heat 1		Heat 2		Final
	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time 1	Rank	Time 2	Rank	Total	Rank
Viktor Belyakov	58.05	4	55:56	2	Did not advance
Andrey Belokrinkin	57.46	2 QF	–	–	1:08.96	45	58.90	29	2:07.86	31
Vasily Melnikov	54.32	2 QF	–	–	54.94	38	59.48	30	1:54.42	26

Women

Athlete	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Galina Sidorova	Downhill					1:51.74	35
Alfina Sukhanova						1:48.74	29
Nina Merkulova						1:48.04	27
Irina Turundayevskaya	Giant Slalom					DSQ	–
Nina Merkulova						2:12.71	40
Galina Sidorova						2:12.01	39
Alfina Sukhanova						2:06.48	34
Nina Merkulova	Slalom	n/a	?	DSQ	–	DSQ	–
Galina Sidorova		49.63	30	53.26	24	1:42.89	26
Alfina Sukhanova		49.57	29	52.01	20	1:41.58	25
Irina Turundayevskaya		46.60	25	51.66	19	1:38.26	19

Biathlon

Main article: Biathlon at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Time	Penalties	Adjusted time 1	Rank
20 km	Viktor Mamatov	1'19:20.8	1	1'20:20.8	7
	Nikolay Puzanov	1'17:14.5	3	1'20:14.5	6
	Vladimir Gundartsev	1'16:27.4	2	1'18:27.4
	Aleksandr Tikhonov	1'12:40.4	2	1'14:40.4

¹ One minute added per close miss (a hit in the outer ring), two minutes added per complete miss.

Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Misses 2	Time	Rank
Aleksandr Tikhonov Nikolay Puzanov Viktor Mamatov Vladimir Gundartsev	2	2'13:02.4

² A penalty loop of 200 metres had to be skied per missed target.

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
15 km	Fyodor Simashov	51:05.3	26
	Vladimir Voronkov	50:40.7	22
	Anatoly Akentyev	50:19.9	16
	Valery Tarakanov	49:04.4	9
30 km	Valery Tarakanov	1'39:25.0	17
	Vyacheslav Vedenin	1'38:36.1	14
	Anatoly Akentyev	1'37:52.4	10
	Vladimir Voronkov	1'37:10.8	4
50 km	Igor Voronchikhin	2'40:48.2	31
	Anatoly Akentyev	2'34:54.5	20
	Vladimir Voronkov	2'33:07.3	16
	Vyacheslav Vedenin	2'29:02.5

Men's 4 x 10 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Time	Rank
Vladimir Voronkov Anatoly Akentyev Valery Tarakanov Vyacheslav Vedenin	2'10:57.2	4

Women

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
5 km	Alevtina Olyunina-Smirnova	17:43.2	20
	Rita Achkina	16:55.1	6
	Alevtina Kolchina	16:51.6
	Galina Kulakova	16:48.4
10 km	Faadiya Salimzhanova	39:17.9	13
	Alevtina Olyunina-Smirnova	39:10.3	11
	Alevtina Kolchina	38:52.9	7
	Galina Kulakova	38:26.7	6

Women's 3 x 5 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Time	Rank
Alevtina Kolchina Rita Achkina Galina Kulakova	58:13.6

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	CF	FS	Points	Places	Rank
Sergei Volkov	16	17	1632.0	158	18
Sergei Chetverukhin	11	11	1737.0	93	9

Women

Athlete	CF	FS	Points	Places	Rank
Galina Grzhibovskaya	25	11	1628.5	144	16
Elena Shcheglova	13	10	1670.4	110	12

Pairs

Athletes	SP	FS	Points	Places	Rank
Tamara Moskvina Alexei Mishin	6	5	300.3	44	5
Tatiana Zhuk Alexander Gorelik	2	2	312.3	17
Liudmila Belousova Oleg Protopopov	1	1	315.2	10

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Medal round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Soviet Union	7	6	1	0	48	10	12
2	Czechoslovakia	7	5	1	1	33	17	11
3	Canada	7	5	2	0	28	15	10
4	Sweden	7	4	2	1	23	18	9
5	Finland	7	3	3	1	17	23	7
6	United States	7	2	4	1	23	28	5
7	West Germany	7	1	6	0	13	39	2
8	East Germany	7	0	7	0	13	48	0

USSR – Finland 8:0 (3:0, 2:0, 3:0)
Goalscorers: Staršinov 2, Mišakov 2, Zimin 2, Firsov, Populanov.
Referees: Bucala, Kořínek (TCH)

USSR – East Germany 9:0 (4:0, 2:0, 3:0)
Goalscorers: Firsov 3, Vikulov 2, Mišakov, Staršinov, Alexandrov, Zajcev.
Referees: Wycisk (POL), Johannessen (NOR)

USSR – USA 10:2 (6:0, 4:2, 0:0)
Goalscorers: Firsov 3, Blinov 2, Populanov 2, Kuzkin, Staršinov, Mojsejev – Ross, Morrison.
Referees: Dahlberg (SWE), Kubinec (CAN)

USSR – West Germany 9:1 (4:1, 4:0, 1:0)
Goalscorers: Populanov 2, Alexandrov 2, Ionov, Staršinov, Majorov, Mojsejev, Firsov – Funk.
Referees: Trumble (USA), Valentin (AUT)

USSR – Sweden 3:2 (1:1, 0:0, 2:1)
Goalscorers: Firsov 2, Blinov – Öberg, Svedberg.
Referees: Kubinec (CAN), Kořínek (TCH)

Czechoslovakia – USSR 5:4 (3:1, 1:1, 1:2)
Goalscorers: Ševčík, Hejma, Havel, Golonka, Jiřík – Majorov 2, Blinov, Populanov.
Referees: Trumble (USA), Dahlberg (SWE)

USSR – Canada 5:0 (1:0, 1:0, 3:0)
Goalscorers: Firsov 2, Mišakov, Staršinov, Zimin.
Referees: Trumble (USA), Dahlberg (SWE)

Leading scorers/awards

Rk	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
1st	Anatoli Firsov	7	12	4	16
2nd	Viktor Polupanov	7	6	6	12
2nd	Viacheslav Starsinov	7	6	6	12
4th	Vladimir Vikulov	7	2	10	12

IIHF Awards:

Best Forward

Anatolij Firsov

Contestants

USSR
Goaltenders: Viktor Konovalenko, Viktor Zinger.
Defence: Viktor Blinov, Vitalij Davidov, Viktor Kuzkin, Alexandr Ragulin, Oleg Zajcev, Igor Romiševskij.
Forwards: Anatolij Firsov, Vjačeslav Staršinov, Viktor Populanov, Vladimir Vikulov, Venjamin Alexandrov, Jurij Mojsejev, Jevgenij Mišakov, Jevgenij Zimin, Anatolij Ionov, Boris Majorov.
Coaches: Arkadij Černyšev, Anatolij Tarasov.

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Events:

• normal hill ski jumping (Three jumps, best two counted and shown here.)
• 15 km cross-country skiing

Athlete	Event	Ski jumping				Cross-country			Total
		Distance 1	Distance 2	Points	Rank	Time	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Mikhail Artyukhov	Individual	66.0	69.0	192.4	26	51:32.4	199.50	20	391.90	19
Tõnu Haljand		68.5	70.0	202.8	17	50:40.5	209.88	12	412.68	12
Robert Makara		72.5	74.0	222.8	5	51:09.3	204.12	17	426.92	7
Vyacheslav Dryagin		71.5	74.5	222.8	5	51:22.0	201.58	19	424.38	8

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Jump 1		Jump 2		Total
		Distance	Points	Distance	Points	Points	Rank
Vladimir Smirnov	Normal hill	69.5	89.5	70.0 (fall)	58.8	148.3	55
Vladimir Belousov		73.5	102.9	73.0	104.6	207.5	8
Gary Napalkov		75.0	104.3	73.0	101.1	205.4	14
Anatoly Zheglanov		79.5	110.0	74.5	101.5	211.5	6
Vladimir Smirnov	Large hill	88.0	89.1	83.5	80.8	169.9	41
Gary Napalkov		96.5	107.0	90.5	96.1	203.1	11
Anatoly Zheglanov		99.0	108.5	92.0	97.2	205.7	8
Vladimir Belousov		101.5	118.0	98.5	113.3	231.3

Speed skating

Main article: Speed skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
500 m	Valery Kaplan	41.6	21
	Valery Muratov	41.4	18
	Anatoly Lepeshkin	41.0	11
	Yevgeny Grishin	40.6	4
1500 m	Valery Kaplan	2:07.2	12
	Ants Antson	2:07.2	12
	Aleksandr Kerchenko	2:07.1	11
	Eduard Matusevich	2:06.1	8
5000 m	Anatoly Mashkov	7:41.9	14
	Stanislav Selyanin	7:38.5	11
	Valery Lavrushkin	7:37.9	10
10000 m	Anatoly Mashkov	16:22.1	16
	Stanislav Selyanin	15:56.4	10
	Valery Lavrushkin	15:54.8	9

Women

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
500 m	Tatyana Sidorova	46.9	9
	Irina Yegorova	46.9	9
	Lyudmila Titova	46.1
1000 m	Lāsma Kauniste	1:35.3	11
	Irina Yegorova	1:34.4	5
	Lyudmila Titova	1:32.9
1500 m	Lidiya Skoblikova	2:27.6	11
	Lyudmila Titova	2:26.8	7
	Lāsma Kauniste	2:25.4	5
3000 m	Lāsma Kauniste	5:16.0	12
	Anna Sablina	5:12.5	8
	Lidiya Skoblikova	5:08.0	6

References

• Official Olympic Reports
• International Olympic Committee results database
• Olympic Winter Games 1968, full results by sports-reference.com