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

Basketball

Boxing

Canoeing

Cycling

Diving

Equestrian

Fencing

Gymnastics

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Rowing

Sailing

Shooting

Volleyball

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Silver

Athletics

Equestrian

Fencing

Gymnastics

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Shooting

Swimming

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Bronze

Archery

Athletics

Cycling

Fencing

Football (soccer)

Gymnastics

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Sailing

Shooting

Swimming

Volleyball

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Results by event

Archery

Women's individual competition: Men's individual competition:

Athletics

Men's 100 metres Men's 800 metres Men's 1,500 metres Men's 5000 metres Men's 4 × 100 m relay Men's high jump Women's javelin throw

Basketball

Boxing

Men's light middleweight (– 71 kg) Men's heavyweight (+ 81 kg)

Canoeing

Cycling

Fifteen cyclists represented the Soviet Union in 1972.

Diving

Men's 3m springboard Men's 10m platform Women's 3m springboard Women's 10m platform

Equestrian

Fencing

20 fencers, 15 men and 5 women, represented the Soviet Union in 1972.

Football

Gymnastics

Handball

The Soviet team came away from the three-game opening round with no losses, but only one win. Ties with Denmark and Sweden and a win over Poland put the Soviet Union in a tie with Sweden at the top of the division. Since both teams moved on to the second round, the fact that Sweden won the tie-breaker mattered little. The Soviets' hopes were high after the first game of the second round, a win over East Germany that put the team on top of the division. However, their subsequent loss to Czechoslovakia dropped them to third in the group. This meant that they played in a game for fifth and sixth place against host nation West Germany. Their win was little consolation for being eliminated from medal contention. Men's team competition:

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Three male pentathletes represented the Soviet Union in 1972. Men's individual competition Men's team competition

Rowing

The Soviet Union had 26 male rowers participate in all seven rowing events in 1972. Men's single sculls

Sailing

Shooting

Fourteen male shooters represented the Soviet Union in 1972. Yakiv Zhelezniak won gold, Boris Melnik and Yevgeny Petrov won silvers and Viktor Torshin won a bronze medal.

Swimming

Men's 100m freestyle Men's 200m freestyle Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay

Volleyball

Water polo

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Medals by republic

In the following table for team events number of team representatives, who received medals are counted, not "one medal for all the team", as usual. Because there were people from different republics in one team.

Top 5 sports societies

In the following table for team events number of team representatives, who received medals are counted, not "one medal for all the team", as usual. Because there were people from different sports societies in one team.