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.
The USSR finished first in the final medal rankings, with 50 gold and 99 total medals.
Mykola Avilov — men's decathlonAnatoliy Bondarchuk — men's hammer throwValeriy Borzov — men's 100 metresValeriy Borzov — men's 200 metresLyudmila Bragina — women's 1500 metresNadezhda Chizhova — women's shot putFaina Melnik — women's discus throwViktor Saneyev — men's triple jumpJüri Tarmak — men's high jumpAlzhan Zharmukhamedov, Zurab Sakandelidze, Gennady Volnov, Ivan Yedeshko, Sergey Kovalenko, Modestas Paulauskas, Anatoly Polivoda, Ivan Dvornyi, Mikhail Korkiya, Aleksandr Belov, Sergey Belov and Aleksandr Boloshev — men's team competition.Boris Kuznetsov — men's featherweightVyacheslav Lemeshev — men's 71–75 kgAleksandr Shaparenko — men's K1 1000m kayak singlesYuliya Ryabchynskaya — women's K1 500m kayak singlesNikolay Gorbachov and Viktor Kratasyuk — men's K2 1000m kayak pairsYekaterina Kuryshko and Lyudmila Pinayeva-Khvedosyuk — women's K2 500m kayak pairsVladas Česiūnas and Yury Lobanov — men's C2 1000m Canadian pairsYury Stetsenko, Valery Didenko, Yury Filatov and Vladimir Morozov — men's K4 1000m kayak foursValery Yardy, Gennady Komnatov, Valery Likhachov and Boris Shukov — men's team road raceVladimir Semenets and Igor Tselovalnykov — men's 2000m tandemVladimir Vasin — men's springboardYelena Petushkova, Pepel, Ivan Kalita, Ikhor, Ivan Kizimov, Tarif — dressage teamViktor Sidyak — men's sabre individualSvetlana Tširkova, Alexandra Zabelina, Yelena Belova-Novikova, Galina Gorokhova and Tatyana Samusenko-Petrenko — women's foil teamViktor Klimenko — men's pommel horseNikolay Andrianov — men's floor exercisesLyudmila Turishcheva — women's all-around individualOlga Korbut — women's balance beamOlga Korbut — women's floor exercisesTamara Lazakovich, Elvira Saadi, Lyudmila Turishcheva, Lyubov Burda, Olga Korbut and Antonina Koshel — women's team combined exercisesShota Chochishvili — men's half-heavyweight (93 kg)Pavel Lednev, Boris Onyshchenko and Vladimir Shmelyov — men's team competitionYury Malyshev — men's single scullsGennady Korshikov and Aleksandr Timoshinin — men's double scullsVitaly Dyrdyra and Valentyn Mankin — men's tempest classYakov Zheleznyak — men's running game targetNina Smoleyeva, Tatyana Tretyakova-Ponyaeva, Lyubov Tyurina, Inna Ryskal, Roza Salikhova, Tatyana Sarycheva, Tatyana Gonobobleva, Natalya Kudreva, Galina Leontyeva, Lyudmila Borozna, Lyudmila Buldakova and Vera Duyunova-Galushka — women's team competitionVyatcheslav Sobchenko, Vladimir Zhmudsky, Nikolay Melnikov, Leonid Osipov, Aleksandr Shidlovsky, Aleksandr Dreval, Vadim Gulyaev, Aleksandr Kabanov, Anatoly Akimov, Aleksey Barkalov and Aleksandr Dolgushin — men's team competitionMukharby Kirzhinov — men's lightweightJaan Talts — men's heavyweightVasily Alekseyev — men's super heavyweightRustem Kazakov — men's Greco-Roman bantamweightShamil Khisamutdinov — men's Greco-Roman lightweightValery Rezantsev — men's Greco-Roman light heavyweightAnatoly Roshchin — men's Greco-Roman super heavyweightRoman Dimitriyev — men's freestyle light flyweightZagalav Abdulbekov — men's freestyle featherweightLevan Tediashvili — men's freestyle middleweightIvan Yarygin — men's freestyle heavyweightAleksandr Medved — men's freestyle super heavyweightYevgeny Arzhanov — men's 800 metresValeriy Borzov, Aleksandr Kornelyuk, Vladimir Lovetskiy and Juris Silovs — men's 4 × 100 m relayVladimir Golubnichy — men's 20 km walkLeonid Lytvynenko — men's decathlonJānis Lūsis — men's javelin throwVeniamin Soldatenko — men's 50 km walkNijole Sabaite — women's 800 metresYelena Petushkova, her horse Pepel — dressage individualLeonid Romanov, Vasily Stankovich, Vladimir Denisov, Anatoly Koteshev and Viktor Putyatin — men's foil teamViktor Sidyak, Eduard Vinokurov, Viktor Bazhenov, Vladimir Nazlymov and Mark Rakita — men's sabre teamViktor Klimenko — men's long horse vaultMikhail Voronin — men's ringsEduard Mikaelyan, Vladimir Shchukin, Mikhail Voronin, Viktor Klimenko, Nikolay Andrianov and Aleksandr Maleyev — men's team combined exercisesOlga Korbut — women's asymmetrical barsTamara Lazakovich — women's balance beamLyudmila Turishcheva — women's floor exercisesVitali Kuznetsov — men's open classBoris Onyshchenko — men's individual competitionYevgeni Petrov — men's skeet shootingBoris Melnik — men's free rifle, three positionsViktor Mazanov, Viktor Aboimov, Vladimir Bure and Igor Grivennikov — men's 4 × 100 m freestyleGalina Stepanova-Prozumenshchykova — women's 100m breaststrokeDito Shanidze — men's featherweightAnatoly Nazarenko — men's Greco-Roman middleweightNikolay Yakovenko — men's Greco-Roman heavyweightArsen Alakhverdiyev — men's freestyle flyweightGennady Strakhov — men's freestyle light heavyweightEmma Gaptchenko — women's individual competitionVasily Khmelevski — men's hammer throwOmar Pkhakadze — men's 1000m sprint (scratch)Vladimir Nazlymov — men's sabre individualGalina Gorokhova — women's foil individualIgor Valetov, Georgi Zažitski, Grigory Kriss, Viktor Modzalevsky and Sergey Paramonov — men's épée teamGennady Yevryuzhikhin, Oganes Zanazanyan, Vyacheslav Semyonov, Andrei Yakubik, Yury Yeliseyev, Vladimir Pilguy, Yevgeny Rudakov, Yozhef Sabo, Yevgeny Lovchev, Sergei Olshansky, Vladimir Onishchenko, Viktor Kolotov, Anatoly Kuksov, Yury Istomin, Vladimir Kaplichnyi, Murtaz Khurtsilava, Arkady Andriasyan, Oleg Blokhin and Revaz Dzodzuashvili — men's team competitionNikolay Andrianov — men's long horse vaultTamara Lazakovich — women's all-around individualLyudmila Turishcheva — women's side horse vaultTamara Lazakovich — women's floor exercisesAnatoly Novikov — men's half middleweight (70 kg)Givi Onashvili — men's heavyweight (>100 kg)Pavel Lednev — men's individual competitionViktor Potapov — men's Finn classViktor Torshin — men's rapid-fire pistolVladimir Bure — men's 100m freestyleViktor Mazanov, Vladimir Bure, Igor Grivennikov and Georgi Kulikov — men's 4 × 200 m freestyleGalina Stepanova-Prozumenshchykova — women's 200m breaststrokeAleksandr Saprykin, Yury Starunsky, Leonid Zayko, Vladimir Patkin, Yury Poyarkov, Vladimir Putyatov, Vladimir Kondra, Valery Kravchenko, Yevgeny Lapinsky, Viktor Borshch, Yefim Chulak and Vyatcheslav Domanyi — men's team competitionGennady Chetin — men's bantamweightRuslan Ashuraliyev — men's freestyle lightweightIn the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, the Soviet Union entered three men and three women. They took home a bronze medal as four of their archers, including all three women, finished in the top 8.
Women's individual competition:
Emma Gaptchenko — 2403 points (→ Bronze medal)Keto Lossaberidze — 2402 points (→ 4th place)Alla Peounova — 2364 points (→ 8th place)Men's individual competition:
Victor Sidorouk — 2427 points (→ 7th place)Mikhail Peounov 2397 points (→ 12th place)Mati Vaikjärv — 2363 points (→ 24th place)Men's 100 metres
Vladimir AtamasFirst heat — 10.51s (→ did not advance)Men's 800 metres
Yevgeny Arzhanov → Silver medalHeat — 1:48.3Semifinals — 1:46.3Final — 1:45.9Ivan IvanovHeat — 1:51.0Semifinals — 1:49.6 (→ did not advance)Yevgeni VolkovHeat — 1:48.6Semifinals — 1:50.1 (→ did not advance)Men's 1,500 metres
Vladimir PanteleyHeat — 3:42.3Semifinals — 3:41.6Final — 3:40.2 (→ 8th place)Yevgeny ArzhanovHeat — DNS (→ did not advance)Ivan IvanovHeat — 3:42.3 (→ did not advance)Men's 5000 metres
Nikola PuklakovHeat — 13:57.6 (→ did not advance)Vladimir AfoninHeat — 14:08.6 (→ did not advance)Men's 4 × 100 m relay
Aleksandr Kornelyuk, Vladimir Lovetskiy, Juris Silovs and Valeriy BorzovHeat — 39.15sSemifinals — 39.00sFinal — 38.50s (→ Silver medal)Men's high jump
Jüri TarmakQualifying round — 2.15mFinal — 2.23m (→ Gold medal)Rustam AkhmetovQualifying round — 2.15mFinal — 2.15m (→ 8th place)Kestusis ShapkaQualifying round — 2.15mFinal — 2.15m (→ 12th place)Women's javelin throw
Svetlana KorolyovaQualifying round — 55.90 mFinal — 56.36 m (→ 8th place)Men's team competitionPreliminary 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)SemifinalsDefeated Cuba (67-60)FinalDefeated United States (51-50) → Gold medalMen's light middleweight (– 71 kg)
Valeri TregubovFirst round — byeSecond round — defeated Reggie Jones (USA), 3:2Third round — lost to Alan Minter (GBR), 0:5Men's heavyweight (+ 81 kg)
Yuri NesterovFirst round — lost to Duane Bobick (USA), 0:5Fifteen cyclists represented the Soviet Union in 1972.
Individual road raceValery Likhachov — 34th placeAnatoly Starkov — 35th placeValery Yardy — did not finish (→ no ranking)Ivan Trifonov — did not finish (→ no ranking)Team time trialBoris ShukhovValery YardyGennady KomnatovValery LikhachovSprintOmar Pkhak'adzeSerhiy Kravtsov1000m time trialEduard RappFinal — 1:07.73 (→ 8th place)TandemIgor Tselovalnikov and Vladimir Semenets — Gold medalTeam pursuitViktor BykovVladimir KuznetsovAnatoly StepanenkoAleksandr YudinMen's 3m springboard
Vladimir Vasin - 594.09 points (gold medal)Viacheslav Strahov - 556.20 points (6th place)Vladimir Kapirulin - 329.46 points (18th place)Men's 10m platform
David Ambarzumian - 463.56 points (5th place)Vladimir Kapirullin - 459.21 points (7th place)Aleksander Gendrikson - 431.04 points (12th place)Women's 3m springboard
Natalia Kusnecova - 258.45 points (14th place)Tatjana Shtyreva - 252.42 points (16th place)Tamara Safonova - 252.09 points (17th place)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)20 fencers, 15 men and 5 women, represented the Soviet Union in 1972.
Men's foilVladimir DenisovAnatoly KoteshevVasyl StankovychMen's team foilVasyl Stankovych, Viktor Putyatin, Anatoly Koteshev, Vladimir Denisov, Leonid RomanovMen's épéeIgor ValetovSergey ParamonovGrigory KrissMen's team épéeGrigory Kriss, Viktor Modzalevsky, Georgi Zažitski, Sergey Paramonov, Igor ValetovMen's sabreViktor SidyakVladimir NazlymovMark RakitaMen's team sabreMark Rakita, Viktor Sidyak, Vladimir Nazlymov, Eduard Vinokurov, Viktor BazhenovWomen's foilGalina GorokhovaYelena Novikova-BelovaAleksandra ZabelinaWomen's team foilYelena Novikova-Belova, Galina Gorokhova, Aleksandra Zabelina, Svetlana Tširkova, Tatyana Petrenko-SamusenkoHandball
Men's team competitionThe 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 rosterNikolai SemenovMikhail IschenkoAleksandr PanovVladimir MaksimovValentin KulevVasili IlyinAnatoli ShevchenkoYuri KlimovMikhail LuzenkoAlexander ResanovValeri GassiAlbert OganesovYan VilsonYuri LagutinIvan UsatyThree male pentathletes represented the Soviet Union in 1972.
Men's individual competition
Boris Onishenko — 5335 pts (→ Silver medal)Pavel Lednev — 5328 pts (→ Bronze medal)Vladimir Shmelev — 5302 pts (→ 5th place)Men's team competition
Onishenko, Lednev and Shmelev — 15968 pts (→ Gold medal)Men's single sculls
Yury MalyshevHeat — 7:42.67Semifinals — 8:13.49Final — 7:10.12 (→ Gold medal)Men's coxed pairs
Vladimir Eshinov, Nikolay Ivanov and Yuri LorensonHeat — 7:43.84Semifinals — 8:07.34Final — 7:24.44 (→ 5th place)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 pistolViktor TorshinIgor Bakalov50 m pistolGrigory KosykhVladimir Stolypin300 m rifle, three positionsBoris MelnikValentin Kornev50 m rifle, three positionsVladimir AgishevVitaly Parkhimovich50 m rifle, proneVitaly ParkhimovichValentin Kornev50 m running targetYakiv ZhelezniakValery PostoyanovTrapAleksandr AlipovAleksandr AndroshkinSkeetYevgeny PetrovYury TsuranovMen's 100m freestyle
Vladimir BureHeat — 52.87sSemifinals — 52.60sFinal — 51.77s (→ Bronze medal)Igor GrivennikovHeat — 53.64sSemifinals — 53.55sFinal — 52.44s (→ 6th place)Georgi KulikovHeat — 53.78sSemifinals — 53.68s (→ did not advance)Men's 200m freestyle
Vladimir BureHeat — 1:56.15Final — 1:57.24 (→ 7th place)Viktor MazanovHeat — 1:57.92 (→ did not advance)Georgi KulikovHeat — 1:57.04 (→ did not advance)Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay
Vladimir Bure, Viktor Mazanov, Viktor Aboimov and Georgy KulikovHeat — 3:32.72Vladimir Bure, Viktor Mazanov, Viktor Aboimov and Igor GrivennikovFinal — 3:29.72 (→ Silver medal)Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay
Viktor Aboimov, Alexsandr Samsonov, Viktor Mazanov and Georgi KulikovHeat — 7:51.44Igor Grivennikov, Viktor Mazanov, Georgi Kulikov and Vladimir BureFinal — 7:45.76 (→ Bronze medal)Men's team competitionPreliminary round (group A)Defeated Tunisia (3-0)Defeated South Korea (3-0)Defeated Bulgaria (3-1)Defeated Czechoslovakia (3-0)Defeated Poland (3-2)SemifinalsLost to East Germany (1-3)Bronze medal matchDefeated Bulgaria (3-0) → Bronze medalTeam rosterViktor BorschVyacheslav DomanyVladimir PatkynLeonid ZaykoYuri StarunskyAlex SaprikyneVladimir KondraElim ChulakVladimir PoutyatovValery KravchenkoYevgeny LapinskyYuri PoyarkovIn 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.
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.
