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...
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