Cold War Olympics

The Olympic Committee of the USSR is formed

Apr 21, 1951

USSR recognized by International Olympic Committee (IOC)

May 7, 1951

Opening Ceremony, 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki

Jul 19, 1952

USSR wins its first Olympic Gold Medal

Jul 20, 1952

Opening Ceremony for Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics

Jan 26, 1956

Opening Ceremony for Melbourne Summer Olympics

Nov 22, 1956

"Blood in the Water" match: Capitalist Sador (Hungary) attacked by Communis Prokopov (Russia) in water polo

Dec 6, 1956

Opening Ceremony for Squaw Valley Winter Olympics

Feb 18, 1960

US Men's Ice Hockey beats USSR 3-2

Feb 27, 1960

"Forgotten Miracle": US Men's Ice Hockey beats Czechoslovakia (Eastern bloc) 9-4; US wins their first Olympic Gold for Men's Ice Hockey

Feb 28, 1960

Berlin Wall construction begins, countries refuse to give East German athletes visas to compete (this continues until 1968 when the IOC banned this)

Aug 13, 1961

Opening Ceremony for Innsbruck, Austria: Final year that East and West Germany compete as one team

Jan 29, 1964

Opening Cermony for Grenoble Winter Olympics; First Winter Olympics where East and West Germany are permitted to compete as separate teams

Feb 6, 1968

Opening Ceremony for Mexico City Summer Olympics: First Summer Olympics where East and West Germany are permitted to compete as separate teams

Oct 12, 1968

Opening Ceremony for Sapporo, Japan Winter Olympics: Canada refuses to send a Men's Ice Hockey team due to controversy over USSR's athletes getting compensation for competing

Feb 3, 1972

Opening Ceremony for Munich Summer Olympics

Aug 26, 1972

Munich Massacre: Palestinian terrorists raid Olympic Village and take nine Israeli athletes hostage, all were later killed

Sep 5, 1972

USA-USSR Men's Basketball game controversy: US wins at first, clock reset to 0:03, USSR wins final

Sep 9, 1972

Opening Ceremony for Innsbruck Winter Olympics: Canada still refuses to send a team

Feb 4, 1976

Opening Ceremony for Montreal Summer Olympics

Jul 17, 1976

During these games, USSR athlete Boris Onishchenko was DQ'ed for rigging his sword to register a hit, when no hit had been administered

USSR invades Afghanistan, beginning a nine-year proxy war (part of the Cold War)

Dec 24, 1979

Opening Ceremony for Lake Placid, NY Winter Olympics

Feb 14, 1980

"Miracle on Ice": US Men's Ice Hockey Team defeats USSR Men's Ice Hockey Team 4-3

Feb 22, 1980

Opening Ceremony for Moscow Summer Olympics

Jul 19, 1980

The United States, along with 64 of its capitalist allies, boycotted these games due to the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan on Christmas Eve the year prior to the games.

Opening Ceremony for Los Angeles, CA, USA Summer Olympics

Jul 28, 1984

The USSR and 14 other Eastern Bloc countries boycotted these games as a retaliation against the Moscow Olympics, which were boycotted by the capitalists in the previous Summer Games.

Opening Ceremony for Seoul Summer Olympics

Sep 17, 1988

South Korea (cap.) denied North Korea's (comm.) bid to host as a joint nation as a result of Cold War tensions.

USSR formally dissolved.

Dec 25, 1991