Soviet Union at the Olympics

Soviet Union at the Olympic Games
Flag of the Soviet Union IOC code  URS NOC Soviet Olympic Committee
Olympic history
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–)

File:USSR NOC.png

NOC symbol of the USSR

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.

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 by Games

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal count

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

Medals by Summer Games

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1952 Helsinki	295	22	30	19	71	2
1956 Melbourne	283	37	29	32	98	1
1960 Rome	284	43	29	31	103	1
1964 Tokyo	319	30	31	35	96	2
1968 Mexico City	313	29	32	30	91	2
1972 Munich	373	50	27	22	99	1
1976 Montreal	410	49	41	35	125	1
1980 Moscow	489	80	69	46	195	1
1984 Los Angeles	did not participate
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
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo	55	7	3	6	16	1
1960 Squaw Valley	62	7	5	9	21	1
1964 Innsbruck	69	11	8	6	25	1
1968 Grenoble	74	5	5	3	13	2
1972 Sapporo	78	8	5	3	16	1
1976 Innsbruck	79	13	6	8	27	1
1980 Lake Placid	86	10	6	6	22	1
1984 Sarajevo	99	6	10	9	25	2
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	65	55	75	195
Wrestling	62	31	23	116
Weightlifting	39	21	2	62
25px Canoeing	29	13	9	51
Fencing	18	15	16	49
Shooting	17	15	17	49
Boxing	14	19	18	51
Swimming	13	21	26	60
Rowing	12	20	10	42
Cycling	11	4	8	23
Volleyball	7	4	1	12
Equestrian	6	5	4	15
Judo	5	5	13	23
Modern pentathlon	4	5	5	14
Sailing	4	5	3	12
Basketball	4	4	4	12
Handball	4	1	1	6
Diving	3	4	6	13
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

See also

• List of flag bearers for the Soviet Union at the Olympics
• Category:Olympic competitors for the Soviet Union
• Soviet Union at the Paralympics