Soviet Union at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Soviet Union at the
1972 Summer Olympics
Flag of the Soviet Union
IOC codeURS
NOCSoviet Olympic Committee
in Munich, West Germany
26 August 1972 (1972-08-26) – 10 September 1972 (1972-09-10)
Competitors371 (298 men, 73 women)[1] in 22 sports
Flag bearer Aleksandr Medved
Medals
Ranked 1st
Gold
50
Silver
27
Bronze
22
Total
99
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
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 (1994–2016)
 Ukraine (1994–)
 Uzbekistan (1994–)
 Azerbaijan (1996–)
 Tajikistan (1996–)
 Turkmenistan (1996–)
 ROC (2020–2022)
 Individual Neutral Athletes (2024)
Aleksandr Medved, flag bearer of Soviet Union at the 1972 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

The Soviet Union (USSR) competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 371 competitors, 298 men and 73 women, took part in 180 events in 22 sports.[2]

The Soviet Union won 50 gold medals in the year, when the fiftieth anniversary of the USSR's founding was celebrated in the country. That fact pleased the Soviet authorities.[3]

Medalists

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The USSR finished first in the final medal rankings, with 50 gold and 99 total medals.

Gold

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Athletics

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Basketball

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Boxing

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Canoeing

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Cycling

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Diving

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Equestrian

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Fencing

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Gymnastics

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Judo

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Modern pentathlon

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Rowing

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Men's single sculls – 1st place ( gold medal)
Men's double sculls – 1st place ( gold medal)

Sailing

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Shooting

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Volleyball

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Water polo

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Weightlifting

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Wrestling

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Silver

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Athletics

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Equestrian

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Fencing

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Gymnastics

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Judo

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Modern pentathlon

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Shooting

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Swimming

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Weightlifting

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Wrestling

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Bronze

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Archery

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Athletics

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Cycling

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Fencing

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Football (soccer)

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Gymnastics

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Judo

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Modern pentathlon

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Sailing

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Shooting

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Swimming

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Volleyball

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Weightlifting

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Wrestling

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Results by event

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Archery

[edit]
Main article: Archery at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Women's individual competition:

Men's individual competition:

Athletics

[edit]
Main article: Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Men's 100 metres

  • First heat — 10.51s (→ did not advance)

Men's 800 metres

  • Heat — 1:48.3
  • Semifinals — 1:46.3
  • Final — 1:45.9
  • Heat — 1:51.0
  • Semifinals — 1:49.6 (→ did not advance)
  • Heat — 1:48.6
  • Semifinals — 1:50.1 (→ did not advance)

Men's 1,500 metres

  • Heat — 3:42.3
  • Semifinals — 3:41.6
  • Final — 3:40.2 (→ 8th place)
  • Heat — DNS (→ did not advance)
  • Heat — 3:42.3 (→ did not advance)

Men's 5000 metres

  • Heat — 13:57.6 (→ did not advance)
  • Heat — 14:08.6 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 100 m relay

  • Heat — 39.15s
  • Semifinals — 39.00s
  • Final — 38.50s (→ Silver medal)

Men's high jump

  • Qualifying round — 2.15m
  • Final — 2.23m (→ Gold medal)
  • Qualifying round — 2.15m
  • Final — 2.15m (→ 8th place)
  • Qualifying round — 2.15m
  • Final — 2.15m (→ 12th place)

Women's javelin throw

  • Qualifying round — 55.90 m
  • Final — 56.36 m (→ 8th place)

Basketball

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Main article: Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Men's team competition
  • Preliminary round (group B)
  • Defeated Senegal (94–52)
  • Defeated West Germany (87–63)
  • Defeated Italy (79–66)
  • Defeated Poland (94–64)
  • Defeated Puerto Rico (100–87)
  • Defeated Philippines (111–80)
  • Defeated Yugoslavia (74–67)
  • Semifinals
  • Defeated Cuba (67–60)
  • Final
  • Defeated United States (51–50) → Gold medal

Boxing

[edit]
Main article: Boxing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Men's light middleweight (– 71 kg)

  • First round — bye
  • Second round — defeated Reggie Jones (USA), 3:2
  • Third round — lost to Alan Minter (GBR), 0:5

Men's heavyweight (+ 81 kg)

Canoeing

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Main article: Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Cycling

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Main article: Cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Fifteen cyclists represented the Soviet Union in 1972.

Individual road race
Team time trial
Sprint
1000m time trial
  • Final — 1:07.73 (→ 8th place)
Tandem
Team pursuit

Diving

[edit]
Main article: Diving at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Men's 3m springboard

Men's 10m platform

Women's 3m springboard

Women's 10m platform

  • Alla Seiina – 314.76 points (10th place)
  • Natalia Kuznecova – 184.02 points (13th place)
  • Tatjana Shtyreva – 177.33 points (19th place)

Equestrian

[edit]
Main article: Equestrian at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Fencing

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Main article: Fencing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

20 fencers, 15 men and 5 women, represented the Soviet Union in 1972.

Men's foil
Men's team foil
Men's épée
Men's team épée
Men's sabre
Men's team sabre
Women's foil
Women's team foil

Football

[edit]
Main article: Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Gymnastics

[edit]
Main article: Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Handball

[edit]
Main article: Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Men's team competition

The Soviet team came away from the three-game opening round with no losses, but only one win. Ties with Denmark and Sweden and a win over Poland put the Soviet Union in a tie with Sweden at the top of the division. Since both teams moved on to the second round, the fact that Sweden won the tie-breaker mattered little. The Soviets' hopes were high after the first game of the second round, a win over East Germany that put the team on top of the division. However, their subsequent loss to Czechoslovakia dropped them to third in the group. This meant that they played in a game for fifth and sixth place against host nation West Germany. Their win was little consolation for being eliminated from medal contention.

Men's team competition:

  • Soviet Union – 5th place (3–1–2)
  • Team roster

Judo

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Main article: Judo at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Modern pentathlon

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Main article: Modern pentathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Three male pentathletes represented the Soviet Union in 1972.

Men's individual competition

Men's team competition

  • Onishenko, Lednev and Shmelev — 15968 pts (→ Gold medal)

Rowing

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Main article: Rowing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The Soviet Union had 26 male rowers participate in all seven rowing events in 1972.[4]

Men's single sculls

  • Heat — 7:42.67
  • Semifinals — 8:13.49
  • Final — 7:10.12 (→ Gold medal)
Men's coxless pair – 8th place
Men's coxed pair
  • Heat — 7:43.84
  • Semifinals — 8:07.34
  • Final — 7:24.44 (→ 5th place)
Men's coxless four – 4th place
Men's coxed four – 4th place
Men's eight – 4th place

Sailing

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Main article: Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Shooting

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Main article: Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Fourteen male shooters represented the Soviet Union in 1972. Yakiv Zhelezniak won gold, Boris Melnik and Yevgeny Petrov won silvers and Viktor Torshin won a bronze medal.

25 m pistol
50 m pistol
300 m rifle, three positions
50 m rifle, three positions
50 m rifle, prone
50 m running target
Trap
Skeet

Swimming

[edit]
Main article: Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Men's 100m freestyle

  • Heat — 52.87s
  • Semifinals — 52.60s
  • Final — 51.77s (→ Bronze medal)
  • Heat — 53.64s
  • Semifinals — 53.55s
  • Final — 52.44s (→ 6th place)
  • Heat — 53.78s
  • Semifinals — 53.68s (→ did not advance)

Men's 200m freestyle

  • Heat — 1:56.15
  • Final — 1:57.24 (→ 7th place)
  • Heat — 1:57.92 (→ did not advance)
  • Heat — 1:57.04 (→ did not advance)

Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay

  • Heat — 3:32.72
  • Final — 3:29.72 (→ Silver medal)

Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay

  • Heat — 7:51.44
  • Final — 7:45.76 (→ Bronze medal)

Volleyball

[edit]
Main article: Volleyball at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Men's team competition
  • Preliminary round (group A)
  • Defeated Tunisia (3–0)
  • Defeated South Korea (3–0)
  • Defeated Bulgaria (3–1)
  • Defeated Czechoslovakia (3–0)
  • Defeated Poland (3–2)
  • Semifinals
  • Lost to East Germany (1–3)
  • Bronze medal match
  • Defeated Bulgaria (3–0) → Bronze medal
  • Team roster

Water polo

[edit]
Main article: Water polo at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Weightlifting

[edit]
Main article: Weightlifting at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Wrestling

[edit]
Main article: Wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Medals by republic

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In the following table for team events number of team representatives, who received medals are counted, not "one medal for all the team", as usual. Because there were people from different republics in one team.

RankRepublicGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russian SFSR602220102
2 Ukrainian SSR207936
3 Byelorussian SSR106218
4 Georgian SSR61310
5 Uzbek SSR3003
6 Lithuanian SSR2103
7 Kazakh SSR1326
8 Armenian SSR1124
9 Azerbaijan SSR1102
10 Estonian SSR1012
11 Tajik SSR1001
12 Latvian SSR0213
Totals (12 entries)1064440190

Top 5 sports societies

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In the following table for team events number of team representatives, who received medals are counted, not "one medal for all the team", as usual. Because there were people from different sports societies in one team.

Pos Sports society Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Armed Forces 33 18 18 69
2 Dynamo 28 10 16 54
3 VSS Burevestnik 11 6 5 22
4 VSS Spartak 9 3 3 15
5 VSS Trud 7 1 1 9

Bibliography

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  • A. Dobrov (1973). XX Summer Olympic Games. Year 1972 (in Russian). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport.

References

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  1. ^ "The USSR and Olympism" (PDF). Olympic Review (84). International Olympic Committee: 530–557. October 1974. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  2. ^ "Soviet Union at the 1972 Munich Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  3. ^ "XX Летние Олимпийские игры в Мюнхене – история Летних игр".
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Soviet Union Rowing at the 1972 München Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  • Boris Khavin (1979). All about Olympic Games (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. – for medal stats by republic and by sports society
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