The Soviet Union (USSR) competed in the Olympic Games for the first time at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. It was the first time for Russians to compete since 1912 as well as the first time for Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Ukrainians and Uzbeks to do it ever. 295 competitors, 255 men and 40 women, took part in 141 events in 18 sports.
The USSR finished second in the final medal rankings, with 22 gold and 71 total medals.
Nina Bocharova — Artistic gymnastics, women's balance beamVictor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's individual all-roundMaria Gorokhovskaya — Artistic gymnastics, women's individual all-roundVictor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's pommel horseHrant Shahinyan — Artistic gymnastics, men's ringsVictor Chukarin, Hrant Shahinyan, Valentin Muratov, Yevgeni Korolkov, Vladimir Belyakov, Iosif Berdiev, Mikhail Perelman, Dmytro Leonkin — Artistic gymnastics, men's team competitionMaria Gorokhovskaya, Nina Bocharova, Galina Minaicheva, Galina Urbanovich, Pelageya Danilova, Galina Shamrai, Ekaterina Kalinchuk — Artistic gymnastics, women's team competitionVictor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's vaultEkaterina Kalinchuk — Artistic gymnastics, women's vaultNina Romashkova — Athletics, women's discus throwGalina Zybina — Athletics, women's shot putYury Tyukalov — Rowing, men's single scullsAnatoli Bogdanov — Shooting, men's 300 m free rifle 3 positionsIvan Udodov — Weightlifting, men's bantamweightRafael Chimishkyan — Weightlifting, men's featherweightTrofim Lomakin — Weightlifting, men's light-heavyweightArsen Mekokishvili — Wrestling, men's freestyle heavyweightDavid Tsimakuridze — Wrestling, men's freestyle middleweightJohannes Kotkas — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman superheavyweightBoris Maksovich Gurevich — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman flyweightYakov Punkin — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman featherweightShazam Safin — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman lightweightMaria Gorokhovskaya — Artistic gymnastics, women's balance beamMaria Gorokhovskaya — Artistic gymnastics, women's floor exerciseGrant Shaginyan — Artistic gymnastics, men's individual all-roundNina Bocharova — Artistic gymnastics, women's individual all-roundVictor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's parallel barsHrant Shahinyan — Artistic gymnastics, men's pommel horseYevgeni Korolkov — Artistic gymnastics, men's pommel horseVictor Chukarin — Artistic gymnastics, men's ringsMaria Gorokhovskaya, Nina Bocharova, Galina Minaicheva, Galina Urbanovich, Pelageya Danilova, Galina Shamrai, Medeya Dzhugeli, Ekaterina Kalinchuk — Artistic gymnastics, women's team, portable apparatusMaria Gorokhovskaya — Artistic gymnastics, women's uneven barsMaria Gorokhovskaya — Artistic gymnastics, women's vaultVladimir Kazantsev — Athletics, men's 3000 m steeplechaseYuriy Lituyev — Athletics, men's 400 m hurdlesBoris Tokarev, Levan Kalyayev, Levan Sanadze, Vladimir Sukharev — Athletics, men's 4 × 100 m relayMaria Golubnichaya — Athletics, women's 80 m hurdlesElizaveta Bagryantseva — Athletics, women's discus throwAleksandra Chudina — Athletics, women's javelin throwAleksandra Chudina — Athletics, women's long jumpLeonid Shcherbakov — Athletics, men's triple jumpStepas Brutautas, Nodar Dzhordzhikiya, Anatoly Konev, Otar Korkiya, Heino Kruus, Ilmar Kullam, Justinas Lagunavičius, Joann Lõssov, Aleksandr Moiseyev, Yuri Ozerov, Kazys Petkevičius, Stasys Stonkus, Maigonis Valdmanis, Viktor Vlasov — Basketball, men's teamViktor Mednov — Boxing, men's light-welterweightSergei Scherbakov — Boxing, men's welterweightGeorgi Zhilin, Igor Emchuk — Rowing, men's double scullsVladimir Rodimushkin, Aleksei Komarov, Igor Borisov, Slava Amiragov, Leonid Gissen, Yevgeni Samsonov, Vladimir Kryukov, Igor Polyakov, Yevgeny Brago — Rowing, men's eight with coxswainBoris Andreyev — Shooting, men's 50 m rifle proneNikolai Saksonov — Weightlifting, men's featherweightYevgeni Lopatin — Weightlifting, men's lightweightGrigori Novak — Weightlifting, men's middle-heavyweightRashid Mamedbekov — Wrestling, men's freestyle bantamweightShalva Chikhladze — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman light-heavyweightDmitri Leonkin — Artistic gymnastics, men's ringsGalina Minaicheva — Artistic gymnastics, women's vaultAleksandr Anufriyev — Athletics, men's 10000 mBruno Junk — Athletics, men's 10000 m walkNadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili — Athletics, women's 200 mNina Dumbadze — Athletics, women's discus throwAleksandra Chudina — Athletics, women's high jumpYelena Gorchakova — Athletics, women's javelin throwKlavdia Tochonova — Athletics, women's shot putAnatoli Bulakov — Boxing, men's flyweightGennadi Garbuzov — Boxing, men's bantamweightBoris Tishin — Boxing, men's light-middleweightAnatoli Perov — Boxing, men's light-heavyweightNina Savina — Canoeing, women's K1 500 mLev Vainshtein — Shooting, men's 300 m free rifle 3 positionsBoris Andreyev — Shooting, men's 50 m rifle 3 positionsArkadi Vorobyov — Weightlifting, men's light-heavyweightArtem Teryan — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman bantamweightNikolay Belov — Wrestling, men's Greco-Roman middleweightKeyNote–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat onlyQ = Qualified for the next roundq = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying targetNR = National recordN/A = Round not applicable for the eventBye = Athlete not required to compete in roundMenTrack & road eventsField eventsCombined events – DecathlonWomenTrack & road eventsField eventsMen's team competitionMain round (Group B)Defeated Bulgaria (74–46)Defeated Finland (47–35)Defeated Mexico (71–62)Final round (Group B)Lost to United States (58–86)Defeated Brazil (54–49)Defeated Chile (78–60)SemifinalsDefeated Uruguay (61–57)FinalLost to United States (25–36) → silver medalTeam rosterStepas BrutautasNodar DzhordzhikiyaAnatoly KonevOtar KorkiyaHeino KruusIlmar KullamJustinas LagunavičiusJoann LõssovAleksandr MoiseyevYuri OzerovKazys PetkevičiusStasys StonkusMaigonis ValdmanisViktor VlasovRoad competitionMen's individual road race (190.4 km)
Yevgeny Klevtsov — 5:23:34.0 (→ 40th place)Anatoly Kolesov — did not finish (→ no ranking)Nikolay Bobarenko — did not finish (→ no ranking)Vladimir Kryuchkov — did not finish (→ no ranking)Track competitionMen's 1000 m time trial
Lev TsipurskyFinal — 1:15.2 (→ 13th place)Men's 1000 m sprint scratch race
Otar Dadunashvili — 13th placeMen's 3 m springboard
Roman BrenerFinal — 165.63 points (→ 5th place)Aleksey ZhigalovFinal — 151.31 points (→ 8th place)Gennady UdalovPreliminary round — 65.99 points (→ 13th place)Men's 10 m platform
Aleksandr BakatinPreliminary round — 71.86 points (→ 7th place)Final — 126.86 points (→ 7th place)Roman BrenerPreliminary round — 71.86 points (→ 8th place)Final — 126.31 (→ 8th place)Mikhail ChachbaPreliminary round — 65.02 pts (→ 17th place)Women's 3 m springboard
Ninel KrutovaPreliminary round — 56.18 points (→ 3rd place)Final — 116.86 points (→ 4th place)Lyubov ZhigalovaPreliminary round — 54.18 points (→ 7th place)Final — 113.83 points (→ 6th place)Valentina ChumichevaPreliminary round — 52.15 points (→ 10th place)Women's 10 m platform
Tatyana VereinaPreliminary round — 43.26 pointsFinal — 61.09 points (→ 6th place)Ninel KrutovaPreliminary round — 40.67 pointsFinal — 57.50 points (→ 8th place)Yevgeniya BogdanovskayaPreliminary round — 32.35 points (→ 14th place)DressageEventingJumping16 fencers, 13 men and 3 women, represented the Soviet Union in 1952.
MenWomenPreliminary roundDefeated Bulgaria (2–1)1/8 finalsDrew with Yugoslavia (5–5)Replay: lost to Yugoslavia (1–3) → 9–16th placeTeam rosterLeonid IvanovKonstantin KrizhevskyAnatoli BashashkinAvtandil ChkuaseliYury NyrkovAnatoly IlyinFridrikh MaryutinIgor NettoValentin NikolayevVasily TrofimovVsevolod BobrovAleksandr TenyaginAvtandil GogoberidzeKonstantin BeskovAleksandr PetrovMenIndividualTeamWomenIndividualTeamThree male pentathletes represented the Soviet Union in 1952.
Men's single sculls
Yury Tyukalov — 8:12.8 → 01 ! gold medalMen's double sculls
Georgi Zhilin, Ihor Yemchuk — 7:38.3 → 02 ! silver medalMen's coxless pairs
Mikhail Plaksin, Vasily Bagretsov — 2 h1 Repechage (→ did not advance)Men's coxed pairs
Yevgeny Morozov, Viktor Shevchenko, Mikhail Prudnikov — 3 h1 r4/5 (→ did not advance)Men's coxless fours
Roman Zakharov, Yuri Rogozov, Ivan Makarov, Vladimir Kirsanov — 2 h1 r4/5 (→ did not advance)Men's coxed four
Kirill Putyrsky, Yevgeny Tretnikov, Georgy Gushchenko, Boris Fyodorov, Boris Brechko — 2 h1 r4/5 (→ did not advance)Men's coxed eight
Yevgeny Brago, Vladimir Radimushkin, Aleksey Komarov, Igor Borisov, Slava Amiragov, Leonid Gissen, Yevgeny Samsonov, Vladimir Kryukov, Igor Polyakov — 6:31.2 → 02 ! silver medalMenMen's team competitionQualifying roundLost to Netherlands (2–3)Defeated India (12–0)Preliminary round (Group B)Lost to Hungary (3–5)Defeated Egypt (3–2)Defeated Germany (6–2)Semi-final round (Group B)Drew with Yugoslavia (3–3)Lost to Netherlands (2–4)Classification round (5–8)Defeated Spain (4–2)Drew with Belgium (3–3) → 7th placeTeam rosterBoris GoikhmanEvgeny SemyonovYury TeplovLev KokorinValentin ProkopovAleksandr LiferenkoPyotr MshvenieradzeYury ShlyapinVitaly UshakovAnatoly YegorovMenMen's freestyleMen's Greco-RomanIn 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.
