Olympic champions of Russia - the best sportsmen of the country

In 776 BC. E. In the Greek city of Athens, the Olympic Games were held for the first time. The public watched with great interest the competitions of athletes, wrestlers and other athletes. The crazy success of the first event showed the advantages of further holding similar games. To participate in competitions only athletes of Greece were allowed. A few centuries later, the Olympics were stopped. This tradition was destined to be covered with a touch of historical dust, if not for Pierre de Coubertin. Thanks to his report on the "Revival of the Olympic Games" in 1892 at the Sorbonne, the world community again turned its views towards the "forbidden fruit" - to the Olympic Games. Analyzing all the positive and negative aspects of the competition, they decided to revive the glorious tradition with the ancient Greek origins.

The first Russian Olympic champion

The first Olympiad was held in Athens in 1896. Unfortunately, representatives of Russian sports were not present at this event. Without them, there were also second and third similar competitions in Paris and St. Louis. But at the Olympics in London in 1908, a group of eight Russian athletes was delegated. The debut of the team was quite successful. It was in London that the first Olympic champion of Russia emerged. He became a figure skater N. Panin-Kolomenkin. Nobody could repeat the intricate pirouettes, which the athlete initially schematically presented to the panel of judges on paper, and then repeated exactly on the ice. That's why Panin-Kolomenkin was unanimously recognized as a champion in this sport. However, not only the figure skater excellently presented his country at the competitions in London. He was also joined by A. Petrov and N. Orlov - the Olympic champions of Russia in wrestling. The wide public resonance was caused by the tremendous debut of the national team at these Games.

Refusal to participate

The following games in Stockholm in 1912 were not so successful for the state. Unfortunately, the national team managed to perform well only in five sports: team shooting from thirty meters, Greco-Roman wrestling, rowing, sailing, shooting (gangway). Olympic champions of Russia in 1912 won two silver (in the first two disciplines) and three bronze medals (in the rest).

After the Games, the Russian government decided to prepare intensively for the new Games of 1916. However, the First World War adversely affected the situation of all countries, which resulted in the refusal of the competition. Since that time, due to the unstable external and internal situation, Russia has not participated in the Olympics until 1952.

The debut of the Soviet national team

After the bright and long-awaited victory of all citizens of the country in the Second World War, the government of the USSR radically changed its view of the Games. In 1951, by order of the leadership of the country, the Olympic Committee was established. A year later, Helsinki hosted the Fifteenth Games. It was there that the debut of Soviet athletes took place. And I must say that the first performance was more than successful. The Olympic champions of Russia and nine other union republics brought home one hundred and six medals. Of these, 38 are in the first category, 53 in the second and 15 in the third. In the overall medal standings, the USSR was in second place. In the future, the power until the time of its disintegration took a similar position only twice, in 1964 and 1968. In all other Games, the USSR was in the lead both in the number of medals and in their quality.

The magnificent sportswoman

It is worth noting that the national team included in fact the outstanding Olympic champions of Russia and friendly allied countries. One of them is Larisa Latynina. This amazing sportswoman announced herself at the Games in Melbourne in 1956. There, the gymnast won gold medals in four programs. The seventeenth and eighteenth Games added to the piggy bank of the girl five additional gold-colored awards. If you count all the medals, then Larisa Latynina for her career has won eighteen trophies. Of these, nine are gold, five are silver and four are bronze medals.

Participation in the Winter Games

In the period from 1952 to 1988, the Soviet Union took first place in such sports as rowing, fencing, canoeing, gymnastics, swimming, sailing, wrestling and track and field. It is noteworthy that the best athlete of the 20th century was also recognized as a Soviet athlete and Olympic champion Valery Brumel. His record for high jump of 2 meters and 28 cm kept at the highest point for almost a quarter of a century.

In addition to the Summer Olympics, the USSR team performed well in the winter analogue of the competition. It is noteworthy that the "white" event began to be held from 1924, twenty-eight years after the start of the first Games. Before that, many sports were included in the program of summer competitions. Soviet Olympic champions in hockey have proven themselves to be excellent. Russia and the allied states proudly presented to the world their outstanding athletes with clubs. These include Vladislav Tretyak, Vitaly Davydovich, Alexander Ragulin, Valery Kharlamov, Vsevolod Bobrov, Alexander Maltsev.

Figure skaters, skaters and skiers

"Winter" Olympic champions of Russia also include the names of other outstanding athletes. These include skiers Galina Kulakova, Lyubov Kozyreva, Vyacheslav Vedenin, Raisa Smetanina, Nikolai Zimyatov, skaters Evgeny Grishin, Nikolai Andrianov, participants in ice dance sports Oksana Grischuk and Eugene Platonov, as well as many others.

Special success athletes of winter sports have achieved in such discipline as figure skating. Olympic champions of Russia and the allied countries brought to the treasury of the country not only a lot of gold medals, but also a huge number of records. Such athletes include Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov. Irina Rodnina is one of the few skaters who managed to win three gold prizes in pair skating.

The last performance of the USSR team

In 1991 the Soviet Union disintegrated. However, this in no way prevented the athletes of the former union republics from speaking at the Olympics in Barcelona as a national team of the USSR. One hundred and twelve medals were won that year. This is the largest number of trophies in the history of the performance of athletes of the Soviet Union. In the treasury delegation was 45 gold, 38 silver and 29 bronze medals. For the first time in the history of the Olympics in honor of the victory of Russian athletes rose the banner of Russia, painted in three colors.

Speaking for yourself

Already four years later at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, each country that was part of the USSR, represented its own team. For Russia, these games were triumphant. The national team won twenty-six gold medals. In the piggy bank were also silver and bronze awards, the number of which is equal to twenty one and sixteen respectively.

At the twenty-eighth Games in Athens, the Olympic champions of the Russian national team won forty-five gold awards. Silver medals were received for two more than the "yellow", and the medals of the third category turned out to be ninety. In Greece, Russian athletes also set several world records. One such achievement is the result of high jump with pole. It was shown by Elena Isinbayeva.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia did not slow down the pace of sports development. At the last Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, the national team was in the first place in terms of the number and quality of awards received, leaving far behind all competitors.