The Soviet Union (USSR) competed, for the last time before its dissolution, at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. 481 competitors, 319 men and 162 women, took part in 221 events in 27 sports. 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 The Soviet Union finished first in the medal standings with 55 gold and 132 total medals.

| width="78%" align="left" valign="top" | MedalNameSportEventDate Shooting Women's 10 metre air rifle 18 September Shooting Women's 25 metre pistol 19 September Weightlifting Men's 56 kg 19 September Shooting Trap 20 September Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 62 kg 20 September Cycling Men's track time trial 20 September Gymnastics Men's artistic team all-around 20 September Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 130 kg 21 September Gymnastics Women's artistic team all-around 21 September Gymnastics Men's artistic individual all-around 22 September Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 68 kg 22 September Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 82 kg 22 September Cycling Men's individual pursuit 22 September Swimming Men's 200 metre backstroke 22 September Shooting Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol 23 September Gymnastics Women's artistic individual all-around 23 September Gymnastics Men's floor 24 September Gymnastics Men's pommel horse 24 September Gymnastics Men's rings 24 September Gymnastics Men's parallel bars 24 September Gymnastics Men's horizontal bar 24 September Gymnastics Men's horizontal bar 24 September Cycling Women's sprint 24 September Cycling Men's team pursuit 24 September Weightlifting Men's 82.5 kg 19 September Gymnastics Women's vault 25 September Athletics Men's high jump 25 September Athletics Women's 3000 metres 25 September Swimming Men's 1500 metre freestyle 25 September Weightlifting Men's 90 kg 25 September Athletics Men's hammer throw 26 September Athletics Women's 400 metres 26 September Weightlifting Men's 100 kg 26 September Fencing Men's team foil 27 September Weightlifting Men's 110 kg 27 September Athletics Men's pole vault 28 September Weightlifting Men's +110 kg 29 September Wrestling Men's freestyle 90 kg 29 September Soviet Union women's national volleyball team Volleyball Women's tournament 29 September Canoeing Men's C-2 500 metres 30 September Athletics Men's 50 kilometres walk 30 September Soviet Union men's national basketball team Basketball Men's tournament 30 September Athletics Women's 10,000 metres 30 September Gymnastics Women's rhythmic individual all-around 30 September Canoeing Men's C-1 1000 metres 1 October Canoeing Men's C-2 1000 metres 1 October Athletics Women's shot put 1 October Athletics Men's 4 × 100 metres relay 1 October Athletics Women's 4 × 400 metres relay 1 October Wrestling Men's freestyle 57 kg 1 October Wrestling Men's freestyle 68 kg 1 October Wrestling Men's freestyle 130 kg 1 October Soviet Union men's national handball team Handball Men's tournament 1 October Soviet Union Olympic football team Football Men's tournament 1 October Boxing Light welterweight 2 October Shooting Women's 10 metre air pistol 21 September Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 74 kg 21 September Weightlifting Men's 67.5 kg 21 September Gymnastics Men's artistic individual all-around 22 September Swimming Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay 23 September Gymnastics Men's floor 24 September Gymnastics Men's parallel bars 24 September Athletics Men's triple jump 24 September Cycling Men's sprint 24 September Swimming Women's 200 metre individual medley 24 September Rowing Women's quadruple sculls 25 September Rowing Men's eight 25 September Gymnastics Women's balance beam 25 September Gymnastics Women's floor 25 September Weightlifting Men's 90 kg 25 September Athletics Men's hammer throw 26 September Sailing Men's 470 27 September Athletics Women's 400 metres hurdles 28 September Athletics Men's pole vault 28 September Fencing Men's team sabre 29 September Judo Men's 86 kg 29 September Wrestling Men's freestyle 62 kg 29 September Canoeing Men's C-1 500 metres 30 September Canoeing Men's K-2 500 metres 30 September Wrestling Men's freestyle 74 kg 30 September Wrestling Men's freestyle 100 kg 30 September Canoeing Men's K-4 1000 metres 1 October Athletics Women's 1500 metres 1 October Athletics Men's discus throw 1 October Boxing Light heavyweight 2 October Soviet Union men's national volleyball team Volleyball Men's tournament 2 October Shooting Women's 10 metre air rifle 18 September Shooting Men's 50 metre pistol 18 September Swimming Men's 100 metre breaststroke 19 September Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 90 kg 20 September Shooting Women's 10 metre air pistol 21 September Shooting Women's 50 metre rifle three positions 21 September Fencing Men's foil 21 September Modern pentathlon Men's individual 22 September Gymnastics Men's artistic individual all-around 22 September Shooting Men's 50 metre rifle three positions 22 September Gymnastics Women's artistic individual all-around 23 September Shooting Men's 50 metre running target 23 September Rowing Men's double sculls 24 September Athletics Men's triple jump 24 September Cycling Men's points race 24 September Swimming Men's 50 metre freestyle 24 September Swimming Men's 100 metre backstroke 24 September Fencing Men's épée 24 September Gymnastics Women's uneven bars 25 September Athletics Men's high jump 25 September Judo Men's 60 kg 25 September Swimming Men's 200 metre individual medley 25 September Swimming Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay 25 September Cycling Women's individual road race 26 September Athletics Men's hammer throw 26 September Athletics Women's 400 metres 26 September Sailing Women's 470 27 September Judo Men's 71 kg 27 September Athletics Men's pole vault 28 September Judo Men's 78 kg 28 September Soviet Union women's national basketball team Basketball Women's tournament 28 September Athletics Women's long jump 29 September Wrestling Men's freestyle 48 kg 29 September Boxing Flyweight 29 September Boxing Super heavyweight 29 September Soviet Union women's national handball team Handball Women's tournament 29 September Fencing Men's team épée 30 September Athletics Women's high jump 30 September Athletics Women's 10,000 metres 30 September Archery Men's individual 30 September Wrestling Men's freestyle 52 kg 30 September Gymnastics Women's rhythmic individual all-around 30 September Athletics Women's 1500 metres 1 October Athletics Women's 4 × 100 metres relay 1 October Soviet Union men's national water polo team Water polo Men's tournament 1 October Judo Men's +95 kg 1 October

| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |

Medals by sport Sport TotalArchery0011Athletics1061026Basketball1012Boxing1124Canoeing3306Cycling4127Fencing1135Football1001Gymnastics125421Handball1012Judo0145Modern Pentathlon0011Rowing0213Sailing0112Shooting41611Swimming2259Volleyball1102Water Polo0011Weightlifting6208Wrestling84315 Total 55 31 46 132

Competitors The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games. SportMenWomenTotalArchery 3 3 6Athletics 39 44 85Basketball 12 12 24Boxing 12 – 12Canoeing 12 5 17Cycling 14 4 18Diving 4 4 8Equestrian 6 2 8Fencing 15 5 20Field hockey 15 0 15Football 18 – 18Gymnastics 6 8 14Handball 14 15 29Judo 7 – 7Modern pentathlon 3 – 3Rowing 30 23 53Sailing 13 2 15Shooting 17 6 23Swimming 19 8 27Synchronized swimming – 3 3Table tennis 2 3 5Tennis 4 3 6Volleyball 12 12 24Water polo 13 – 13Weightlifting 9 – 9Wrestling 20 – 20 Total 321 162 483

Archery

Women's Individual Competition: Lioudmila Arjannikova – final, 4th place T. Mountain – final, 8th place N. Boutouzova – quarterfinal, 18th place

Men's Individual Competition: Vladimir Echeev – final, bronze medal K. Chkolny – 1/8 final, 20th place Juri Leontiev – preliminary round, 29th place

Women's tournament: Arjannikova, Mountain and Boutouzova – final, 4th place

Men's tournament: Echeev, Chkolny and Leontiev – final, 5th place

Athletics

Men's competition Men's Marathon Ravil Kashapov Final — 2:13.49 (→ 10th place)

Men's long jump Leonid Volochine Qualification — 7.89m Final — 7.89m (→ 8th place)

Robert Emmiyan Qualification — DNF (→ did not advance)

Vladimir Ochkan Qualification — DNS (→ did not advance)

Men's discus throw Romas Ubartas Qualification – 65.58m Final – 67.48m (→ Silver medal)

Yuriy Dumchev Qualification – 62.08m Final – 66.42m (→ 4th place)

Vaclavas Kidykas Qualification – 60.88m (→ did not advance)

Men's shot put Sergey Smirnov Qualification — 20.48m Final — 20.36m (→ 8th place)

Men's Hammer Throw Sergey Litvinov Qualification — 81.24m Final — 84.80m (→ Gold medal)

Yuriy Sedykh Qualification — 78.48m Final — 83.76m (→ Silver medal)

Jüri Tamm Qualification — 69.68m Final — 81.16m (→ Bronze medal)

Men's javelin throw Viktor Yevsyukov Qualification — 79.26m Final — 82.32m (→ 5th place)

Vladimir Ovchinnikov Qualification — 80.26m Final — 79.12m (→ 7th place)

Men's decathlon Pavel Tarnovetskiy — 8167 points (→ 10th place) 100 metres — 11.23s Long Jump — 7.28m Shot Put — 15.25m High Jump — 1.97m 400 metres — 48.60s 110m Hurdles — 14.76s Discus Throw — 48.02m Pole Vault — 5.20m Javelin Throw — 59.48m 1.500 metres — 4:52.24s

Men's 20 km Walk Mikhail Shchennikov Final — 1:20:47 (→ 6th place)

Aleksey Pershin Final — 1:22:32 (→ 14th place)

Yevgeniy Misyulya Final — 1:24:39 (→ 27th place)

Men's 50 km Walk Vyacheslav Ivanenko Final — 3:38:29 (→ Gold medal)

Aleksandr Potashov Final — 3:41:00 (→ 4th place)

Vitaliy Popovych Final — 3:59:23 (→ 26th place)

Women's competition Women's 4 × 400 m Relay Lyudmila Dzhigalova, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina and Olga Bryzgina Heat — 3:27.14 Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina and Olga Bryzgina Final — 3:15.18 (→ Gold medal)

Women's Marathon Tatyana Polovinskaya Final — 2:27.05 (→ 4th place)

Zoya Ivanova Final — 2:30.25 (→ 9th place)

Raisa Smekhnova Final — 2:33.19 (→ 16th place)

Women's discus throw Ellina Zvereva Qualification – 63.26m Final – 68.94m (→ 5th place)

Larisa Mikhalchenko Qualification – 64.32m Final – 64.08m (→ 10th place)

Galina Murasova Qualification – 62.54m Final – NM (→ no ranking)

Women's javelin throw Irina Kostyuchenkova Qualification – 63.24m Final – 67.00m (→ 4th place)

Natalya Yermolovich Qualification – 64.44m Final – 64.84m (→ 6th place)

Women's shot put Natalya Lisovskaya Qualification – 19.78m Final – 22.24m (→ Gold medal)

Natalya Akhrimenko Qualification – 19.40m Final – 20.13m (→ 7th place)

Valentina Fedjuschina Qualification – 19.06m (→ did not advance)

Women's Heptathlon Natalya Shubenkova Final Result — 6540 points (→ 4th place)

Remigija Sablovskaitė Final Result — 6456 points (→ 5th place)

Svetlana Buraga Final Result — 6232 points (→ 10th place)

Basketball

Men's tournament

Team roster

Group play

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Gold medal match

Women's tournament

Team roster

Group play

Semifinals

Bronze medal match

Boxing

Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg) Alexander Makhmutov First Round — Bye Second Round — Defeated Carlos Eluaiza (Argentina), 5:0 Third Round — Defeated Jesus Beltre (Dominican Republic), 4:1 Quarterfinals — Lost to Ivailo Marinov (Bulgaria), 0:5

Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg) Timofey Skryabin