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Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer Olympics

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Soviet Union at the
1988 Summer Olympics
IOC codeURS
NOCSoviet Olympic Committee
in Seoul, South Korea
17 September 1988 (1988-09-17) – 2 October 1988 (1988-10-02)
Competitors481 (319 men, 162 women) in 27 sports
Flag bearer Aleksandr Karelin (wrestling)
Medals
Ranked 1st
Gold
55
Silver
31
Bronze
46
Total
132
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)

The Soviet Union (USSR) competed, for the last time before its dissolution, at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. 481 competitors, 319 men and 162 women, took part in 221 events in 27 sports.[1] Athletes from 12 of the ex-Soviet republics would compete as the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and each nation would field independent teams in subsequent Games.

The Soviet Union dominated the medal count, winning 55 gold and 132 total medals. It is the largest Olympic medal tally in history achieved by a non-host nation. Currently, China's and the United States' 48 gold medals in 2008 and 2012 respectively, and the United States' 126 total medals in 2024 are the closest results to the USSR's 1988 performance. The Soviet Union medal tally currently ranks fourth both in terms of gold and total medals, after the United States' 1984 performance, the Soviet Union's 1980 performance, the United States' 1904 performance, and Great Britain's 1908 performance.

Medalists

[edit]

The Soviet Union finished first in the medal standings with 55 gold and 132 total medals.

Competitors

[edit]

The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.[2]

Sport Men Women Total
Archery 3 3 6
Athletics 39 44 85
Basketball 12 12 24
Boxing 12 12
Canoeing 12 5 17
Cycling 14 4 18
Diving 4 4 8
Equestrian 6 2 8
Fencing 15 5 20
Field hockey 15 0 15
Football 18 18
Gymnastics 6 8 14
Handball 14 15 29
Judo 7 7
Modern pentathlon 3 3
Rowing 30 23 53
Sailing 13 2 15
Shooting 17 6 23
Swimming 19 8 27
Synchronized swimming 3 3
Table tennis 2 3 5
Tennis 4 3 6
Volleyball 12 12 24
Water polo 13 13
Weightlifting 9 9
Wrestling 20 20
Total 321 162 483

Archery

[edit]

Women's Individual Competition:

Men's Individual Competition:

Women's tournament:

Men's tournament:

Athletics

[edit]

Men's competition

[edit]

Men's Marathon

  • Final — 2:13.49 (→ 10th place)

Men's long jump

  • Qualification — 7.89m
  • Final — 7.89m (→ 8th place)
  • Qualification — DNF (→ did not advance)
  • Qualification — DNS (→ did not advance)

Men's discus throw

  • Qualification – 65.58m
  • Final – 67.48m (→ Silver medal)
  • Qualification – 62.08m
  • Final – 66.42m (→ 4th place)
  • Qualification – 60.88m (→ did not advance)

Men's shot put

  • Qualification — 20.48m
  • Final — 20.36m (→ 8th place)

Men's Hammer Throw

  • Qualification — 81.24m
  • Final — 84.80m (→ Gold medal)
  • Qualification — 78.48m
  • Final — 83.76m (→ Silver medal)
  • Qualification — 69.68m
  • Final — 81.16m (→ Bronze medal)

Men's javelin throw

  • Qualification — 79.26m
  • Final — 82.32m (→ 5th place)
  • Qualification — 80.26m
  • Final — 79.12m (→ 7th place)

Men's decathlon

  1. 100 metres — 11.23s
  2. Long Jump — 7.28m
  3. Shot Put — 15.25m
  4. High Jump — 1.97m
  5. 400 metres — 48.60s
  6. 110m Hurdles — 14.76s
  7. Discus Throw — 48.02m
  8. Pole Vault — 5.20m
  9. Javelin Throw — 59.48m
  10. 1.500 metres — 4:52.24s

Men's 20 km Walk

  • Final — 1:20:47 (→ 6th place)
  • Final — 1:22:32 (→ 14th place)
  • Final — 1:24:39 (→ 27th place)

Men's 50 km Walk

  • Final — 3:38:29 (→ Gold medal)
  • Final — 3:41:00 (→ 4th place)
  • Final — 3:59:23 (→ 26th place)

Women's competition

[edit]

Women's 4 × 400 m Relay

  • Heat — 3:27.14
  • Final — 3:15.18 (→ Gold Gold medal)

Women's Marathon

  • Final — 2:27.05 (→ 4th place)
  • Final — 2:30.25 (→ 9th place)
  • Final — 2:33.19 (→ 16th place)

Women's discus throw

  • Qualification – 63.26m
  • Final – 68.94m (→ 5th place)
  • Qualification – 64.32m
  • Final – 64.08m (→ 10th place)
  • Qualification – 62.54m
  • Final – NM (→ no ranking)

Women's javelin throw

  • Qualification – 63.24m
  • Final – 67.00m (→ 4th place)
  • Qualification – 64.44m
  • Final – 64.84m (→ 6th place)

Women's shot put

  • Qualification – 19.78m
  • Final – 22.24m (→ Gold medal)
  • Qualification – 19.40m
  • Final – 20.13m (→ 7th place)
  • Qualification – 19.06m (→ did not advance)

Women's Heptathlon

  • Final Result — 6540 points (→ 4th place)
  • Final Result — 6456 points (→ 5th place)
  • Final Result — 6232 points (→ 10th place)

Basketball

[edit]

Men's tournament

[edit]
Team roster

The following is the Soviet Union roster in the men's basketball tournament of the 1988 Summer Olympics.[3]

Soviet Union men's national basketball team – 1988 Summer Olympics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
F/C 4 Alexander Volkov 24 – (1964-03-29)29 March 1964 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) PBC CSKA Moscow Soviet Union
PG 5 Tiit Sokk 23 – (1964-11-15)15 November 1964 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) KK Kalev Soviet Union
F 6 Sergei Tarakanov 30 – (1958-04-25)25 April 1958 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) PBC CSKA Moscow Soviet Union
SG 7 Šarūnas Marčiulionis 24 – (1964-06-13)13 June 1964 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) BC Statyba Soviet Union
G 8 Igors Miglinieks 24 – (1964-05-04)4 May 1964 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) PBC CSKA Moscow Soviet Union
F 9 Valeri Tikhonenko 24 – (1964-08-19)19 August 1964 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) BC SKA Alma-Ata Soviet Union
SG 10 Rimas Kurtinaitis 28 – (1960-05-15)15 May 1960 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) BC Žalgiris Soviet Union
C 11 Arvydas Sabonis 23 – (1964-12-19)19 December 1964 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in) BC Žalgiris Soviet Union
C 12 Viktor Pankrashkin 30 – (1957-12-10)10 December 1957 2.20 m (7 ft 3 in) PBC CSKA Moscow Soviet Union
PG 13 Valdemaras Chomičius 29 – (1959-05-04)4 May 1959 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) BC Žalgiris Soviet Union
C 14 Alexander Belostenny 29 – (1959-02-24)24 February 1959 2.14 m (7 ft 0 in) BC Budivelnyk Soviet Union
C 15 Valery Goborov 22 – (1966-01-20)20 January 1966 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) PBC CSKA Moscow Soviet Union
Head coach
Alexander Gomelsky
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 17 September 1988
Group play
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Yugoslavia 5 4 1 468 384 +84 9[a] Quarterfinals
2  Soviet Union 5 4 1 460 393 +67 9[a]
3  Australia 5 3 2 429 408 +21 8[b]
4  Puerto Rico 5 3 2 382 387 −5 8[b]
5  Central African Republic 5 1 4 346 436 −90 6 9th–12th classification round
6  South Korea (H) 5 0 5 384 461 −77 5
Source: FIBA archive
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Yugoslavia 1–0 Soviet Union
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Australia 1–0 Puerto Rico
18 September 1988
Soviet Union  79–92  Yugoslavia
Scoring by half: 33–39, 46–53

20 September 1988
Australia  69–91  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 35–53, 34–38

21 September 1988
Puerto Rico  81–93 (OT)  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 39–37, 37–39 Overtime: 5–17

23 September 1988
South Korea  73–110  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 38–59, 35–51

24 September 1988
Central African Republic  78–87  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 31–40, 47–47
Quarterfinals
26 September 1988
19:30
Soviet Union  110–105  Brazil
Scoring by half: 53–58, 57–47
Pts: Kurtinaitis 24
Rebs: Sabonis 9
Asts: Sabonis, Tarakanov, Volkov 2
Pts: Schmidt 46
Rebs: Israel 11
Asts: Maury 5
Semifinals
28 September 1988 (1988-09-28)
12:00
United States  76–82  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 37–47, 39–35
Pts: Robinson 19
Rebs: Robinson 12
Asts: Coles 2
Pts: Kurtinaitis 28
Rebs: Sabonis 13
Asts: Volkov 5
Gold medal match
30 September 1988 (1988-09-30)
Yugoslavia  63–76  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 28–31, 35–45
Pts: Petrović 24
Rebs: Divac 7
Asts: Petrović 4
Pts: Marčiulionis 21
Rebs: Sabonis 15
Asts: Marčiulionis 6

Women's tournament

[edit]
Team roster

The following is the Soviet Union roster in the women's basketball tournament of the 1988 Summer Olympics.[4]

Soviet Union women's national basketball team – 1988 Summer Olympics roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
4 Olga Yevkova 23 – (1965-07-15)15 July 1965
5 Irina Gerlits 22 – (1966-04-29)29 April 1966
6 Olesya Barel 28 – (1960-02-09)9 February 1960 Hungary
G 7 Irina Sumnikova 23 – (1964-10-15)15 October 1964 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) Soviet Union
8 Olga Buryakina 30 – (1958-03-17)17 March 1958
9 Olga Yakovleva 24 – (1963-12-15)15 December 1963
10 Irina Minkh 24 – (1964-04-16)16 April 1964 Soviet Union
11 Aleksandra Leonova 24 – (1964-09-04)4 September 1964
C 12 Yelena Khudashova 23 – (1965-07-10)10 July 1965 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Italy
13 Vitalija Tuomaitė 23 – (1964-11-22)22 November 1964
C 14 Natalya Zasulskaya 19 – (1969-05-28)28 May 1969 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Soviet Union
15 Galina Savitskaya 27 – (1961-07-13)13 July 1961 Spain
Head coach
Leonid Yachmenev
Legend
  • Club – describes last
    club before the tournament
  • Age – describes age
    on 17 September 1988
Group play
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 3 2 1 178 196 −18 5[a] Semifinals
2  Soviet Union 3 2 1 208 188 +20 5[a]
3  Bulgaria 3 1 2 217 241 −24 4[b] Classification round
4  South Korea (H) 3 1 2 244 222 +22 4[b]
Source: FIBA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal average; 4) head-to-head number of points scored.
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Australia 1–0 Soviet Union
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head record: Bulgaria 1–0 South Korea
19 September 1988
11:45
Bulgaria  62–91  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 26–50, 36–41
Pts: Dermendzhieva, Staneva 17
Rebs: Staneva 6
Asts: Slavcheva 3
Pts: Zasulskaya 23
Rebs: Yakovleva, Zasulskaya 10
Asts: Minkh 4

22 September 1988
11:45
South Korea  66–69  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 35–33, 31–36
Pts: Choi 20
Rebs: Sung 14
Pts: Savitskaya 18
Rebs: Savitskaya 6
Asts: Sumnikova 2

25 September 1988 (1988-09-25)
21:30
Australia  60–48  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 30–30, 30–18
Pts: Maher 20
Rebs: Maher 8
Asts: Maher 6
Pts: Yakovleva 13
Rebs: 4 players 4
Asts: Minkh 2
Semifinals
27 September 1988 (1988-09-27)
11:45
United States  102–88  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 50–39, 52–49
Pts: Cooper 27
Rebs: McClain 15
Asts: Edwards 6
Pts: Zasulskaya 16
Rebs: Tuomaitė 6
Asts: Yakovleva 2
Bronze medal match
28 September 1988 (1988-09-28)
21:30
Australia  53–68  Soviet Union
Scoring by half: 21–32, 32–36
Pts: Maher 22
Rebs: Maher, Timms 3
Asts: Maher 4
Pts: Savitskaya 16
Rebs: Yakovleva 7
Asts: Buryakina 2

Boxing

[edit]

Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg)

Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg)

Men's Bantamweight (– 54 kg)

Men's Featherweight (– 57 kg)

Men's Lightweight (– 60 kg)

Men's Light-Welterweight (– 63.5 kg)

Men's Welterweight (– 67 kg)

Men's Light-Middleweight (– 71 kg)

Men's Middleweight (– 75 kg)

Men's Light-Heavyweight (– 81 kg)

Men's Heavyweight (– 91 kg)

Men's Super-Heavyweight (+ 91 kg)

Canoeing

[edit]

Cycling

[edit]

Eighteen cyclists, fourteen men and four women, represented the Soviet Union in 1988.

Men's road race
Men's team time trial
Men's sprint
Men's 1 km time trial
Men's individual pursuit
Men's team pursuit
Men's points race
Women's road race
Women's sprint

Diving

[edit]

Men's 10m Platform

  • Preliminary Round — 540.90
  • Final — 585.96 (→ 4th place)
  • Preliminary Round — 570.75
  • Final — 534.66 (→ 8th place)

Equestrian

[edit]
Men's show jump team

Fencing

[edit]

20 fencers, 15 men and 5 women, represented the Soviet Union in 1988.

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]

Gymnastics

[edit]

Handball

[edit]

Hockey

[edit]

Men's tournament

[edit]
  • Preliminary round (group B)
  • Soviet Union – India 1–0
  • Soviet Union – South Korea 3–1
  • Soviet Union – Canada 0–0
  • Soviet Union – Great Britain 1–3
  • Soviet Union – West Germany 0–6
  • Classification Matches
  • 5th–8th place: Soviet Union – Pakistan 0–1
  • 7th–8th place: Soviet Union – Argentina 4–1 (→ 7th place)
  • Team roster

Judo

[edit]

Modern pentathlon

[edit]

Three male pentathletes represented the Soviet Union in 1988. Vaho Iagorashvili won a bronze in the individual event.

Individual
Team
  • Vaho Iagorashvili
  • German Yuferov
  • Anatoly Avdeyev

Rhythmic gymnastics

[edit]

Rowing

[edit]

The Soviet Union had 30 male and 23 female rowers participate in all 14 rowing events in 1988.[5]

Men's competition
Men's single sculls
Men's double sculls
Men's coxless pair
Men's coxed pair
Men's quadruple sculls
Men's coxless four
Men's coxed four
Men's eight
Women's competition
Women's single sculls
Women's double sculls
Women's coxless pair
Women's quadruple sculls
Women's coxed four
Women's eight

Sailing

[edit]

Shooting

[edit]

Swimming

[edit]

Men's 50 m Freestyle

Men's 100 m Freestyle

Men's 200 m Freestyle

Men's 400 m Freestyle

Men's 1500 m Freestyle

Men's 100 m Backstroke

Men's 200 m Backstroke

Men's 100 m Breaststroke

  • Dmitry Volkov
    1. Heat – 1:02.49
    2. Final – 1:02.20 (→ Bronze Bronze medal)
  • Alexei Matveev
    1. Heat – 1:03.25
    2. B-Final – 1:03.01 (→ 9th place)

Men's 200 m Breaststroke

  • Valeri Lozik
    1. Heat – 2:16.31
    2. Final – 2:16.16 (→ 5th place)
  • Vadim Alexeev
    1. Heat – 2:17.15
    2. B-Final – 2:16.70 (→ 6th place)

Men's 100 m Butterfly

Men's 200 m Butterfly

Men's 200 m Individual Medley

Men's 400 m Individual Medley

Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay

Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay

Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay


Women's 50 m Freestyle

Women's 100 m Freestyle

Women's 200 m Freestyle

Women's 400 m Freestyle

Women's 800 m Freestyle

Women's 100 m Breaststroke

Women's 200 m Breaststroke

Women's 100 m Breaststroke

Women's 100 m Butterfly

Women's 200 m Butterfly

Women's 200 m Individual Medley

Women's 400 m Individual Medley

Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay

Synchronized swimming

[edit]

Three synchronized swimmers represented the Soviet Union in 1988.

Women's solo
Women's duet

Table tennis

[edit]

Tennis

[edit]

Men's Singles Competition

Women's Singles Competition

Volleyball

[edit]

Men's tournament

[edit]
  • Preliminary round (group A)
  • Defeated Bulgaria (3–0)
  • Defeated Sweden (3–0)
  • Defeated South Korea (3–0)
  • Defeated Italy (3–1)
  • Lost to Brazil (2–3)
  • Semi Finals
  • Defeated Argentina (3–0)
  • Final
  • Lost to the United States (1–3) → Silver medal
  • Team roster

Women's tournament

[edit]
  • Preliminary round (group A)
  • Lost to Japan (2–3)
  • Defeated South Korea (3–2)
  • Defeated East Germany (3–0)
  • Semi Finals
  • Defeated PR China (3–0)
  • Final
  • Defeated Peru (3–2) → Gold medal
  • Team roster

Water polo

[edit]

Men's tournament

[edit]
  • Preliminary round (group A)
  • Drew with Italy (9–9)
  • Defeated Australia (11–4)
  • Defeated France (14–8)
  • Defeated South Korea (17–4)
  • Lost to West Germany (8–9)
  • Semi Finals
  • Lost to United States (7–8)
  • Bronze medal match
  • Defeated West Germany (14–13) → Bronze medal
  • Team roster

Weightlifting

[edit]

Wrestling

[edit]

Men's freestyle

[edit]

Athlete

[edit]
Event First round Second round Third round Fourth round Fifth round Sixth round Seventh round Final round Rank
Opposition

Result

Opposition

Result

Opposition

Result

Opposition

Result

Opposition

Result

Opposition

Result

Opposition

Result

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer Games". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  2. ^ "Olympedia – Soviet Union at the 1988 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org.
  3. ^ "1988 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men". FIBA. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  4. ^ "1988 Olympic Games : Tournament for Women". FIBA. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  5. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Soviet Union Rowing at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2018.