The Soviet Union (USSR) at the Olympics

The former Soviet Union (USSR) was represented at nine summer Olympic Games, from 1952 to 1988. The USSR led a boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. The Soviet Union (USSR) dissolved in the early 1990, and now each of the regions compete under their own name: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Russia sent a few athletes to compete in the 1900, 1908 and 1912 Olympic Games, but did not compete again until the 1952 Games, as part of the Soviet Union or USSR.
In Helsinki in 1952 a cold-war atmosphere dominated the games, as the Soviets set up a rival Olympic village for Eastern Bloc countries.
At six of its nine appearances at the Summer Olympic Games between 1952 and 1988, the Soviet team (USSR) ranked first in the total number of gold medals won, it was second on the other three occasions.
In 1984, the USSR boycotted the Games in what was widely seen as revenge for the boycott by many countries of Moscow Games four years earlier, though the official line was that they had security concerns.
After the break up of the Soviet Union, the independent states competed under the banner of The Unified Team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The official French name used was Equipe Unifiée, therefore the country code EUN was used in the result listings.

The USSR team enterting the stadium at the 1972 Olympic Games

Athlete Trivia

In 1952, Soviet Maria Gorokhovskaya, unhindered by the limits set on female competitors at earlier Games, set a record for most medals won by a woman in one Olympics, with two golds and five silvers.
Many know of the bloody grudge polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union played at the 1956 Games, played soon after the Soviets invaded Hungary. But do you know the result? Hungary won 4-0, then went on to win gold.
In 1964, Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina won six medals for the third time in a row; becoming the Olympic athlete with the most medals (18), though in 2012 was surpassed by swimmer Michael Phelps.
Aleksandr Ditiatin of the Soviet Union earned a record 8 Gold medals in gymnastics at the 1980 games.

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