Soviet Union at the Olympics

The **Soviet Union** sent athletes to the **Olympic Games** for the first time in 1952. They sent teams to the Games 18 simes since then. At six of the nine times at the Summer Olympic Games, the team was ranked first in the medal standings. It was ranked second at the other three Games. The team was ranked first seven times and second twice in nine times they sent teams to the Winter Olympic Games.

_The Olympic Committee of the USSR_ was created on April 21, 1951. It was accepted by the IOC on May 7, 1951.

The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki was first Olympic Games for Soviet athletes. On July 20, 1952, the first Olympic gold medal for the country was won by Nina Romashkova in the women's discus throw. Romashkova set the new Olympic record in the event. The 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo were the first Winter Olympic Games for Soviet athletes. The first Winter Olympic gold medal for the Soviet Union 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. The USSR then led a boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

The USSR ended on December 26, 1991. _The Olympic Committee of the USSR_ did not end until March 12, 1992.

In 1992, 12 of the 15 countries that had been part of the Soviet Union took part in the Games as the Unified Team. They used the Olympic Flag in the Barcelona Games. The Unified Team finished first in the medal rankings. The Unified Team also competed at the Albertville Winter Games earlier in the year. Only seven of the twelve countries took part. They finished second in the medal rankings at those Games.

### Medals by Summer Games

|style="width:15em;"|Games|style="width:4.5em;"|Athletes|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background:gold; width:4.5em; font-weight:bold;"|Gold|style="background:silver; width:4.5em; font-weight:bold;"|Silver|style="background:#cc9966; width:4.5em; font-weight:bold;"|Bronze|
|1952 Helsinki|295 (40)|22|30|19|71|
|1956 Melbourne|283 (39)|37|29|32|98|
|1960 Rome|284 (50)|43|29|31|103|
|1964 Tokyo|319 (63)|30|31|35|96|
|1968 Mexico City|313 (67)|29|32|30|91|
|1972 Munich|373 (71)|50|27|22|99|
|1976 Montreal||49|41|35|125|
|1980 Moscow (host nation)||80|69|46|195|
|1984 Los Angeles|_did not compete_|||||
|1988 Seoul||55|31|46|132|

### Medals by Winter Games

|style="width:15em;"|Games|style="width:4.5em;"|Athletes|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="background:gold; width:4.5em; font-weight:bold;"|Gold|style="background:silver; width:4.5em; font-weight:bold;"|Silver|style="background:#cc9966; width:4.5em; font-weight:bold;"|Bronze|
|1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo|55 (7)|7|3|6|16|
|1960 Squaw Valley|62 (13)|7|5|9|21|
|1964 Innsbruck|69 (17)|11|8|6|25|
|1968 Grenoble|74 (21)|5|5|3|13|
|1972 Sapporo|78 (20)|8|5|3|16|
|1976 Innsbruck||13|6|8|27|
|1980 Lake Placid||10|6|6|22|
|1984 Sarajevo||6|10|9|25|
|1988 Calgary||11|9|9|29|

### Medals by summer sport

|Total|395|319|296|1010|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Gymnastics|73|67|44|184|
|Athletics|65|55|75|195|
|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|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|

### Medals by winter sport

|Total|78|57|59|194|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|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|

## Related pages

- List of IOC country codes

- Unified Team at the Olympics
- Russia at the Olympics

## Other websites

- Russian Federation profile at London2012.com

## Infobox (country at games)

- **noc**: URS
- **nocname**: Soviet Olympic Committee
- **games**: Olympics
- **flagcaption**: Flag of the Soviet Union
- **gold**: 473
- **silver**: 376
- **bronze**: 355
- **seealso**: (1900–1912)
 (1920–1936, 1992–)
 (1924–1936, 1992–)
 (1924–1928, 1992–)
 (1992)
 (1994–)
 (1994–)
 (1994–)
 (1994–)
 (1994–)
 (1994–)
 (1994–2016)
 (1994–)
 (1994–)
 (1996–)
 (1996–)
 (1996–)
 (2018W)