The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the Soviet Union), a sports giant that was invincible during the Cold War, dominated the world sports scene for forty years from its official entry into the world sports arena in 1950 to its dissolution in 1991. In that era of severe confrontation between East and West, the competitive sports strength of the socialist camp led by the former Soviet Union clearly prevailed, and from the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, the nine Summer Olympic Games (the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics did not participate), the former Soviet Union defeated the United States on six occasions to win the gold medal list. From 1956 to 1992, he participated in the 11 Winter Olympics and sat at the top of the gold medal list eight times. The total number of gold medals is 486, the total number of medals is 1122, and the sum of gold medals and medals is far behind the US empire, which can be called the sports giant of the Cold War era. So, who are the outstanding great men in the main force that makes up the torrent of Soviet sports? The following author has selected thirty of the most representative former Soviet sports heroes to share with you, hoping to evoke the memories of that era by old sports fans.
Four gold medalists in men's gymnastics at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics: Zhu Kalin
First, Victor. Jukalin
From a prisoner of war who escaped from a Nazi concentration camp during World War II to the first generation of the world's gymnastics icon, Zhukalin occupies a special historical position in the history of Soviet sports, as a pioneer of Soviet men's gymnastics dominating the world, he won a total of 7 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 1 bronze medal in the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games, and his great achievements can be called the best of his time.
One of the best female gymnasts of the 20th century: LaTinina
II. Larissa. Latinina
Ukrainian, one of the greatest female gymnasts in Olympic history. From 1956 to 1964, he participated in three Olympic Games and won a total of 18 medals, including 9 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 4 bronze medals, a magical record that lasted for more than 40 years before it was broken by the American swimming star Phelps.
The soviet 60s men's sports figure: Shahlin
III. Boris. Shahrin
The Ukrainian "Iron Man", the undisputed ruler of men's gymnastics in the 1960s, and the Gemini constellation of him and Zhu Kalin once enjoyed the world's sports scene for a decade. The two Olympic Games won a total of 13 medals, including 7 gold medals, and won an additional 10 world championships.
Alexei. Popolov
The ice hockey king who started the era of soviet ice hockey: Popolov
The Russian, the Soviet Union's "ice hockey king" and football star in the 1950s, the main football champion at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, is the only athlete in the history of Soviet sports to win gold medals in both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympic Games.
The father of modern goalkeepers: Yasin
V. Lev. Yassin
The Russian, nicknamed "Black Spider", is the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Soviet and even world football, the main goalkeeper who won the Melbourne Olympic football championship in 1956, the European Championship in 1960, participated in the World Cup four times, helped the Soviet Union reach the final four of the World Cup in England in 1966, and became the first European footballer in the history of Soviet football in 1963.
The throwing queen of the world in the sixties: Tamara. Pres
VI. Tamara. Pres and Irina. The Pres Sisters
Ukrainians, the most famous pair of champion sisters in the history of Soviet sports, the two broke the women's track and field world record a total of 26 times, of which the sister Tamara is known as the "Queen of Throwing", the 1960 Rome Olympic Games shot put, discus double champion, 12 times broke the world record; sister Irina won the 80 meters hurdles gold medal at the Rome Olympic Games, the Women's Pentathlon gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and broke the world record a total of 14 times in her life.
VIII. Vladimir. Kutz
The king of long-distance running in the 1950s and 1960s: Kutz
Russian, laborer-born "king of long-distance running", the first men's 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters double Olympic champion in the history of Soviet athletics, the number one hero of the 16th Summer Olympic Games, a total of 8 times in the sports career to break the world record.
Queen of speed skating in the 60s: Skobrikova
IX. Lydia. Skobrikova
The Russian, the world's women's speed skating world leader, the first person in the history of speed skating at the Soviet Winter Olympics, the first female athlete in history to win four gold medals in a single Winter Olympics, won a total of 6 gold medals in the two Olympic Games, and was the absolute king of the world women's speed skating world in the 1960s.
Founder of the prone high jump: Brummel
10. Valery. Brummel
The Ukrainian, known as the "cosmonaut", the pioneer of the world's men's high jump prone bar, broke the world record six times, jumped 23 times over the height of 2.20 meters, he raised the world record from 2.23 meters to 2.28 meters, and won the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
The legend of biathlon: Tikhonov
XI. Alexander. Tikhonov
Russian, who has participated in four Winter Olympics, one of the greatest athletes in the history of biathlon, the first biathlon in history to win 4 gold medals.
Men's sprint double at the Munich Olympics: Borzów
XII. Valery. Borzov
Ukrainian, known as the "Soviet 100m Flyer" and "White Lightning" of the world athletics industry in the 1970s, the men's 100m and 200m double champion at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, was the first white athlete to break the black domination on the Olympic 100-meter track after World War II.
XIII. Nikolai. Alekseyev
The first Hercules of the 20th century: Alexeiyev
The Russian, the world's most record-breaking athlete in the history of weightlifting (80 times), was the undisputed king of weightlifting in the 1970s, winning the men's 110 kg or more category in two Olympic games in 1972 and 1976.
Men's gymnastics Olympic medal first man: Andrianov
XIV. Nikolai. Andrianov
The Russian, the first athlete in history to win the men's gymnastics individual all-around Olympic title twice, is also the male athlete who has won the most medals in Olympic history. He participated in three Olympic Games, won a total of 7 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 3 bronze medals, and was recognized as a "medal-winning machine".
Fifteen, Alexander. Karelin
The king of classical wrestling: Karelin
The Russian, known as the "polar bear", is recognized as the greatest athlete in the history of world wrestling, with a professional record of 887 wins and 1 loss, the Olympic men's 130 kg triple crown, the king of the classical wrestling world.
XVI. Yulyana. Semyonova
The world's first giant in women's basketball: Semyonova
Latvian, known as the "queen of basketball", the most deterrent female center in the history of world basketball, reached 2.11 meters tall and weighed 120 kilograms. Having led the Soviet union to two Olympic women's basketball gold medals in 1976 and 1980, three World Championships and ten European Championships, she has competed in 260 international competitions to win all.
Women's middle-distance running queen of the seventies: Kazankina
XVII. Tatyana. Kazankina
A Russian, the "golden running shoe" of the world athletics in the 1970s, one of the best female middle-distance runners of the 20th century. The first athlete in history to break the women's 1500 m 4-point mark, the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games women's 800 m, 1500 m double champion, the first women's 3000 m world record set.
XVIII. Yuri. Shedih
The king of the world's chain balls: Shedikh
The Ukrainian, the greatest athlete in the history of men's chain ball in the world, the first king of chain balls to break the 85-meter mark, the first male athlete in history to win two consecutive Olympic championships (1976 and 1980). The world record of 86.74 meters, set in 1986, has remained untouched for 36 years.
XIX. Elena. Rodneys
Queen of Synchronized Swimming: Rodneys
The Russian, one of the top ten idol stars of the 20th century in the minds of the Soviets, is the most successful athlete in the history of synchronized swimming in the world. She was three consecutive Olympic women's synchronized swimmers in 1972, 1976 and 1980, 10 defending world championships and 11 European championships.
20. Vladimir. Petrov
The greatest fighter in the history of Soviet ice hockey: Petrov
The Russian, the world leader of the Soviet men's ice hockey team in the seventies, one of the most powerful "iron triangles" in the history of ice hockey, made 596 appearances for the Soviet team, scored 370 goals, led the Soviet team to 10 World Championships, two Olympic championships, and led CSKA Moscow to win the European Club Championship Cup 11 times.
XXII. Alexander. Ji Jiajing
The idol of the men's gymnastics world in the 1970s: Ji Jiajing
The Russian, a Soviet men's gymnastics superstar, the only athlete in Olympic history to win 8 medals in different sports at the same Olympic Games, won 3 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 1 bronze medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, a record that has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records and has not been broken so far.
XXII. Victor. Sanieyev
The first man in the history of the world's men's triple jump: Saniev
The Georgian, a male track and field athlete, is known as the "kangaroo". He has participated in four Olympic Games, winning a total of 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal, the first superstar in Olympic history to win the men's triple jump championship in three consecutive years.
XXIII. Shawarsh. Kalapetyan
The first man in the men's finswimmer world: Karapetyan
The Armenian, the greatest athlete in the history of world finswimming, has won the World Championships 17 times, won the European Championships 13 times, broken the world record 11 times, and has staged many heroic feats of saving people.
XXIV. Alexei. Karpov
World chess champion of the eighties: Karpov
A Russian, nicknamed "Big Card", one of the Soviet double males who was famous in the international chess world in the 20th century, the king of chess. From 1975 to 1985, he won the Chess World Championship for 10 consecutive times and ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years. Once set a world record of one person playing against 4,000 people at the same time.
Twenty-five, Gary. Kasparov
The first chess player in history: Kasparov
Azerbaijani, of Jewish descent, one of the most prominent figures in the history of chess, the youngest chess champion in history, has won the "Oscar Award", the highest honor in the world of chess, 11 times. In November 2007, he was arrested for participating in demonstrations against Putin.
XXVI. Reissa. Smedaniina
Queen of cross-country skiing: Smedanina
The Russian, the only female cross-country skier in the history of the Winter Olympics to win 10 Olympic medals, is also the only athlete to have won medals at all five Winter Olympics. From the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck to the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, she won four gold, five silver and one bronze medals, and at the 1992 Winter Olympics, at the age of 40, she set a record for the oldest medal in history.
XXVII. Vyacheslav. Zaitsev
The Needle of the Soviet Men's Volleyball Team: Zaitsev
The Russian, the best second setter of the world men's volleyball team in the 20th century, the soul of the Soviet men's volleyball team in the 1970s, the model of the second pass of the full-attack and all-defensive playing team, he led the Soviet team to win the unprecedented five consecutive world men's volleyball championships as the captain of the field.
XXVIII. Oleg. Brosin
1975 European Footballer of the Year: Brossin
The Ukrainian, known as the "Soviet Rocket", was the fastest shooter in world football in the 70s. In 1975, he led Dynamo Kiev to win the European Cup Winners' Cup and Super Cup, thus becoming the second Soviet football star after Yasin to win the European Footballer of the Year.
XXIX. Sergey. Bubka
The king of the world pole vault: Bubka
The Ukrainian, one of the greatest athletes in the history of men's athletics in the world, is known as the "Tsar" and "Flying Man of the Century". He has won the World Championships six times, set a new indoor and outdoor world record in the pole vault 35 times, and was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the IAAF.
30. Avidas. Sabonis
World Men's Basketball No. 1 Center in the 1980s: Sabonis
The Lithuanian, known as the "roof of the world", "the architect of the air", is one of the greatest centers in the history of world basketball. He has been named the best player in Europe six times, and led the Soviet team to win the Seoul Olympic Men's Basketball Championship in 1988.
Regarding some outstanding athletes in the history of sports in the former Soviet Union, it is time to write at this point, in terms of numbers, although these thirty people are only the tip of the iceberg among many people, as the representatives of the former red sports empire, they (they) can still reflect the overall style of the Soviet sports torrent to a certain extent. Thirty years have passed, and although many of these sports heroes who were in the limelight are long gone, the brilliant achievements they have created are still unforgettable, and these shining names will surely forever be integrated into the long river of world sports history for future generations to praise and admire.