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 Soviet Union won 50 gold medals in the year, when the fiftieth anniversary of the USSR's founding was celebrated in the country. That fact pleased the Soviet authorities.
Medalists The USSR finished first in the final medal rankings, with 50 gold and 99 total medals.
Gold
Athletics Mykola Avilov — men's decathlon Anatoliy Bondarchuk — men's hammer throw Valeriy Borzov — men's 100 metres Valeriy Borzov — men's 200 metres Lyudmila Bragina — women's 1500 metres Nadezhda Chizhova — women's shot put Faina Melnik — women's discus throw Viktor Saneyev — men's triple jump Jüri Tarmak — men's high jump
Basketball Alzhan Zharmukhamedov, Zurab Sakandelidze, Gennady Volnov, Ivan Yedeshko, Sergei Kovalenko, Modestas Paulauskas, Anatoly Polivoda, Ivan Dvornyi, Mikheil Korkia, Aleksandr Belov, Sergey Belov and Aleksandr Boloshev — men's team competition.
Boxing Boris Kuznetsov — men's featherweight Vyacheslav Lemeshev — men's 71–75 kg
Canoeing Aleksandr Shaparenko — men's K1 1000m kayak singles Yuliya Ryabchynskaya — women's K1 500m kayak singles Nikolai Gorbachev and Viktor Kratasyuk — men's K2 1000m kayak pairs Yekaterina Kuryshko and Lyudmila Pinayeva-Khvedosyuk — women's K2 500m kayak pairs Vladas Česiūnas and Yury Lobanov — men's C2 1000m Canadian pairs Yury Stetsenko, Valery Didenko, Yury Filatov and Vladimir Morozov — men's K4 1000m kayak fours
Cycling Valery Yardy, Gennady Komnatov, Valery Likhachov and Boris Shukov — men's team road race Vladimir Semenets and Igor Tselovalnykov — men's 2000m tandem
Diving Vladimir Vasin — men's springboard
Equestrian Yelena Petushkova, Pepel, Ivan Kalita, Ikhor, Ivan Kizimov, Tarif — dressage team
Fencing Viktor Sidyak — men's sabre individual Svetlana Tširkova, Alexandra Zabelina, Yelena Belova-Novikova, Galina Gorokhova and Tatyana Samusenko-Petrenko — women's foil team
Gymnastics Viktor Klimenko — men's pommel horse Nikolay Andrianov — men's floor exercises Lyudmila Turishcheva — women's all-around individual Olga Korbut — women's balance beam Olga Korbut — women's floor exercises Tamara Lazakovich, Elvira Saadi, Lyudmila Turishcheva, Lyubov Burda, Olga Korbut and Antonina Koshel — women's team combined exercises
Judo Shota Chochishvili — men's half-heavyweight (93 kg)
Modern pentathlon Pavel Lednev, Boris Onyshchenko and Vladimir Shmelyov — men's team competition
Rowing
Men's single sculls – 1st place ( gold medal) Yury Malyshev
Men's double sculls – 1st place ( gold medal) Gennadi Korshikov Aleksandr Timoshinin
Sailing Vitaly Dyrdyra and Valentyn Mankin — men's tempest class
Shooting Yakov Zheleznyak — men's running game target
Volleyball Nina 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 competition
Water polo Viacheslav 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 competition
Weightlifting Mukharby Kirzhinov — men's lightweight Jaan Talts — men's heavyweight Vasily Alekseyev — men's super heavyweight
Wrestling Rustem Kazakov — men's Greco-Roman bantamweight Shamil Khisamutdinov — men's Greco-Roman lightweight Valery Rezantsev — men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight Anatoly Roshchin — men's Greco-Roman super heavyweight Roman Dimitriyev — men's freestyle light flyweight Zagalav Abdulbekov — men's freestyle featherweight Levan Tediashvili — men's freestyle middleweight Ivan Yarygin — men's freestyle heavyweight Aleksandr Medved — men's freestyle super heavyweight
Silver
Athletics Yevgeny Arzhanov — men's 800 metres Valeriy Borzov, Aleksandr Kornelyuk, Vladimir Lovetskiy and Juris Silovs — men's 4 × 100 m relay Vladimir Golubnichy — men's 20 km walk Leonid Lytvynenko — men's decathlon Jānis Lūsis — men's javelin throw Veniamin Soldatenko — men's 50 km walk Nijole Sabaite — women's 800 metres
Equestrian Yelena Petushkova, her horse Pepel — dressage individual
Fencing Leonid Romanov, Vasily Stankovich, Vladimir Denisov, Anatoly Koteshev and Viktor Putyatin — men's foil team Viktor Sidyak, Eduard Vinokurov, Viktor Bazhenov, Vladimir Nazlymov and Mark Rakita — men's sabre team
Gymnastics Viktor Klimenko — men's long horse vault Mikhail Voronin — men's rings Eduard Mikaelyan, Vladimir Shchukin, Mikhail Voronin, Viktor Klimenko, Nikolay Andrianov and Aleksandr Maleyev — men's team combined exercises Olga Korbut — women's asymmetrical bars Tamara Lazakovich — women's balance beam Lyudmila Turishcheva — women's floor exercises
Judo Vitali Kuznetsov — men's open class
Modern pentathlon Boris Onyshchenko — men's individual competition
Shooting Yevgeni Petrov — men's skeet shooting Boris Melnik — men's free rifle, three positions
Swimming Viktor Mazanov, Viktor Aboimov, Vladimir Bure and Igor Grivennikov — men's 4 × 100 m freestyle Galina Stepanova-Prozumenshchykova — women's 100m breaststroke
Weightlifting Dito Shanidze — men's featherweight
Wrestling Anatoly Nazarenko — men's Greco-Roman middleweight Nikolay Yakovenko — men's Greco-Roman heavyweight Arsen Alakhverdiyev — men's freestyle flyweight Gennady Strakhov — men's freestyle light heavyweight
Bronze
Archery Emma Gaptchenko — women's individual competition
Athletics Vasily Khmelevski — men's hammer throw
Cycling Omar Pkhakadze — men's 1000m sprint (scratch)
Fencing Vladimir Nazlymov — men's sabre individual Galina Gorokhova — women's foil individual Igor Valetov, Georgi Zažitski, Grigory Kriss, Viktor Modzalevsky and Sergey Paramonov — men's épée team
Football (soccer) Gennady 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 competition
Gymnastics Nikolay Andrianov — men's long horse vault Tamara Lazakovich — women's all-around individual Lyudmila Turishcheva — women's side horse vault Tamara Lazakovich — women's floor exercises
Judo Anatoly Novikov — men's half middleweight (70 kg) Givi Onashvili — men's heavyweight (>100 kg)
Modern pentathlon Pavel Lednev — men's individual competition
Sailing Viktor Potapov — men's Finn class
Shooting Viktor Torshin — men's rapid-fire pistol
Swimming Vladimir Bure — men's 100m freestyle Viktor Mazanov, Vladimir Bure, Igor Grivennikov and Georgi Kulikov — men's 4 × 200 m freestyle Galina Stepanova-Prozumenshchykova — women's 200m breaststroke
Volleyball Aleksandr 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 competition
Weightlifting Gennady Chetin — men's bantamweight
Wrestling Ruslan Ashuraliyev — men's freestyle lightweight
Results by event
Archery
Women's individual competition: Emma Gaptchenko — 2403 points (→ Bronze medal) Keto Lossaberidze — 2402 points (→ 4th place) Alla Peunova — 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)
Athletics
Men's 100 metres Vladimir Atamas First heat — 10.51s (→ did not advance)
Men's 800 metres Yevgeny Arzhanov → Silver medal Heat — 1:48.3 Semifinals — 1:46.3 Final — 1:45.9
Ivan Ivanov Heat — 1:51.0 Semifinals — 1:49.6 (→ did not advance)
Yevgeni Volkov Heat — 1:48.6 Semifinals — 1:50.1 (→ did not advance)
Men's 1,500 metres Volodymyr Panteley Heat — 3:42.3 Semifinals — 3:41.6 Final — 3:40.2 (→ 8th place)
Yevgeny Arzhanov Heat — DNS (→ did not advance)
Ivan Ivanov Heat — 3:42.3 (→ did not advance)
Men's 5000 metres Nikola Puklakov Heat — 13:57.6 (→ did not advance)
Vladimir Afonin Heat — 14:08.6 (→ did not advance)
Men's 4 × 100 m relay Aleksandr Kornelyuk, Vladimir Lovetskiy, Juris Silovs and Valeriy Borzov Heat — 39.15s Semifinals — 39.00s Final — 38.50s (→ Silver medal)
Men's high jump Jüri Tarmak Qualifying round — 2.15m Final — 2.23m (→ Gold medal)
Rustam Akhmetov Qualifying round — 2.15m Final — 2.15m (→ 8th place)
Kestusis Shapka Qualifying round — 2.15m Final — 2.15m (→ 12th place)
Women's javelin throw Svetlana Korolyova Qualifying round — 55.90 m Final — 56.36 m (→ 8th place)
Basketball
Men's team competition Preliminary 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) Semifinals Defeated Cuba (67–60) Final Defeated United States (51–50) → Gold medal
Boxing
Men's light middleweight (– 71 kg) Valeri Tregubov First round — bye Second round — defeated Reggie Jones (USA), 3:2 Third round — lost to Alan Minter (GBR), 0:5
Men's heavyweight (+ 81 kg) Yuri Nesterov First round — lost to Duane Bobick (USA), 0:5
Canoeing
Cycling
Fifteen cyclists represented the Soviet Union in 1972.
Individual road race Valery Likhachov — 34th place Anatoly Starkov — 35th place Valery Yardy — did not finish (→ no ranking) Ivan Trifonov — did not finish (→ no ranking)
Team time trial Boris Shukhov Valery Yardy Gennady Komnatov Valery Likhachov
Sprint Omar Pkhak'adze Serhiy Kravtsov
1000m time trial Eduard Rapp Final — 1:07.73 (→ 8th place)
Tandem Igor Tselovalnikov and Vladimir Semenets — Gold medal
Team pursuit Viktor Bykov Vladimir Kuznetsov Anatoly Stepanenko Aleksandr Yudin
Diving
Men'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)
Equestrian
Fencing
20 fencers, 15 men and 5 women, represented the Soviet Union in 1972.
Men's foil Vladimir Denisov Anatoly Koteshev Vasyl Stankovych
Men's team foil Vasyl Stankovych, Viktor Putyatin, Anatoly Koteshev, Vladimir Denisov, Leonid Romanov
Men's épée Igor Valetov Sergey Paramonov Grigory Kriss
Men's team épée Grigory Kriss, Viktor Modzalevsky, Georgi Zažitski, Sergey Paramonov, Igor Valetov
Men's sabre Viktor Sidyak Vladimir Nazlymov Mark Rakita
Men's team sabre Mark Rakita, Viktor Sidyak, Vladimir Nazlymov, Eduard Vinokurov, Viktor Bazhenov
Women's foil Galina Gorokhova Yelena Novikova-Belova Aleksandra Zabelina
Women's team foil Yelena Novikova-Belova, Galina Gorokhova, Aleksandra Zabelina, Svetlana Tširkova, Tatyana Petrenko-Samusenko
Football
Gymnastics
Handball
Men's team competition