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Союз Советских Социалистических Республик
Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik
(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)

Soviet Union
National Flag (1955-1991)
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (orthographic projection).svg
Location on Map
IOC Code URS
Years Hosted Olympics 1980 Summer
Years Attended Olympics Summer: 1952-80, 1988
Winter: 1956-88
Medals 2012 Summer No longer exists
Medals 2010 Winter No longer exists
Total Olympic Medals
Gold medal iconGold Silver medal iconSilver Bronze medal iconBronze
473 376 355

The Soviet Union first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and competed at the Games on 18 occasions since then. At seven 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.

Medal tables[]

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal count

Medals by Summer Games[]

Games Athletes[1] Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
1952 Helsinki 295 (40) 22 30 19 71 2
1956 Melbourne 283 (39) 37 29 32 98 1
1960 Rome 284 (50) 43 29 31 103 1
1964 Tokyo 319 (63) 30 31 35 96 2
1968 Mexico City 313 (67) 29 32 30 91 2
1972 Munich 373 (71) 50 27 22 99 1
1976 Montreal 49 41 35 125 1
1980 Moscow (host nation) 80 69 46 195 1
1984 Los Angeles did not compete
1988 Seoul 55 31 46 132 1
Total 395 319 296 1010 2

Medals by Winter Games[]

Games Athletes[1] Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 55 (7) 7 3 6 16 1
1960 Squaw Valley 62 (13) 7 5 9 21 1
1964 Innsbruck 69 (17) 11 8 6 25 1
1968 Grenoble 74 (21) 5 5 3 13 2
1972 Sapporo 78 (20) 8 5 3 16 1
1976 Innsbruck 13 6 8 27 1
1980 Lake Placid 10 6 6 22 1
1984 Sarajevo 6 10 9 25 2
1988 Calgary 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
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 (soccer) 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[]

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Total number, number of women is in brackets.

References[]

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