Soviet Union at the 1972 Summer Olympics


The Soviet Union 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.

Medalists

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

Gold

Athletics">Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics">Athletics

; Men's single sculls – 1st place
; Men's double sculls – 1st place

Athletics">Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics">Athletics

Archery">Archery at the 1972 Summer Olympics">Archery

Archery

Women's individual competition:
Men's individual competition:'''
Men's 100 metres
Men's 800 metres
Men's 1,500 metres
Men's 5000 metres
Men's 4 × 100 m relay
Men's high jump
Women's javelin throw
;Men's team competition
Men's light middleweight
Men's heavyweight

Cycling

Fifteen cyclists represented the Soviet Union in 1972.
;Individual road race
;Team time trial
;Sprint
;1000m time trial
;Tandem
;Team pursuit
Men's 3m springboard
Men's 10m platform
Women's 3m springboard
Women's 10m platform

Fencing

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

Gymnastics

Handball

;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:

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented the Soviet Union in 1972.
Men's individual competition
Men's team competition
The Soviet Union had 26 male rowers participate in all seven rowing events in 1972.
Men's single sculls
; Men's coxless pair – 8th place
; Men's coxed pair
; Men's coxless four – 4th place
; Men's coxed four – 4th place
; Men's eight – 4th place

Shooting

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
Men's 100m freestyle
Men's 200m freestyle
Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay
Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay
;Men's team competition

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Medals by republic

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.

Top 5 sports societies

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.
PosSports societyTotal
1Armed Forces33181869
2Dynamo28101654
3VSS Burevestnik116522
4VSS Spartak93315
5VSS Trud7119