Soviet Union men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics
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This article lists various water polo records and statistics in relation to the Soviet Union men's national water polo team and the Unified Team men's national water polo team[a] at the Summer Olympics.
The Soviet Union men's national water polo team and the Unified Team men's national water polo team[a] have participated in 10 of 27 official men's water polo tournaments.[1]
Abbreviations
| Apps | Appearances | Rk | Rank | Ref | Reference | Cap No. | Water polo cap number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Playing position | FP | Field player | GK | Goalkeeper | ISHOF | International Swimming Hall of Fame |
| L/R | Handedness | L | Left-handed | R | Right-handed | Oly debut | Olympic debut in water polo |
| (C) | Captain | p. | page | pp. | pages |
Team statistics
Comprehensive results by tournament
Notes:
- Results of Olympic qualification tournaments are not included. Numbers refer to the final placing of each team at the respective Games.
- At the 1904 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested, but only American contestants participated. Currently the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Swimming Federation (FINA) consider water polo event as part of unofficial program in 1904.
- Related teams: Unified Team men's Olympic water polo team†,[a] Kazakhstan men's Olympic water polo team (statistics), Russia men's Olympic water polo team (statistics), Ukraine men's Olympic water polo team.
- Last updated: 5 May 2021.
- Legend
- 1 – Champions
- 2 – Runners-up
- 3 – Third place
- 4 – Fourth place
- — – The nation did not participate in the Games
- Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
- – Hosts
- Team† – Defunct team
| Men's team[1] | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 92 | 96 | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 16 | 20 | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Soviet Union†[b] |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1 | — | 3 | Defunct | 9 | |||||||
 Unified Team†[a] |
— | — | — | — | — | Part of Soviet Union | 3 | Defunct | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
 Kazakhstan |
— | — | — | — | — | Part of Soviet Union | [a] | 9 | 11 | 11 | Q | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
 Russian Federation |
— | — | — | — | — | Part of Soviet Union | [a] | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
 Ukraine |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Part of Soviet Union | [a] | 12 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Total teams | 7 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 10 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | ||
Number of appearances
Last updated: 5 May 2021.
- Legend
- Year* – As host team
- Team† – Defunct team
| Men's team[1] | Apps | Record streak | Active streak | Debut | Most recent | Best finish | Confederation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union† | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1952 | 1988 | Champions | Europe – LEN |
| Unified Team†[a] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1992 | 1992 | Third place | Europe – LEN |
Best finishes
Last updated: 5 May 2021.
- Legend
- Year* – As host team
- Team† – Defunct team
| Men's team[1] | Best finish | Apps | Confederation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union† | Champions (1972, 1980*) | 9 | Europe – LEN |
| Unified Team†[a] | Third place (1992) | 1 | Europe – LEN |
Finishes in the top four
Last updated: 5 May 2021.
- Legend
- Year* – As host team
- Team† – Defunct team
| Men's team[1] | Total | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | First | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union† | 7 | 2 (1972, 1980*) | 2 (1960, 1968) | 3 (1956, 1964, 1988) | 1956 | 1988 | |
| Unified Team†[a] | 1 | 1 (1992) | 1992 | 1992 |
Medal table
Last updated: 5 May 2021.
- Legend
- Team† – Defunct team
| Men's team | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union (URS)† | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Unified Team†[a] | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (2 entries) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
Player statistics
Multiple appearances
The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic appearances (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), date of birth (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.
- Number of five-time Olympians: 0
- Number of four-time Olympians: 1
- Last updated: 27 July 2021.
- Legend
- – Hosts
| Apps | Player | Birth | Pos | Water polo tournaments | Age of first/last | ISHOF member | Note | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | Aleksei Barkalov | 1946 | FP | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 22/34 | 1993 | [2] | ||
Notes:
Multiple medalists
The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of receiving the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of receiving the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.
- Number of four-time Olympic medalists: 0
- Number of three-time Olympic medalists: 5
- Last updated: 5 May 2021.
- Legend and abbreviation
- – Hosts
- EUN – Unified Team
- URS – Soviet Union
| Rk | Player | Birth | Height | Pos | Water polo tournaments | Period (age of first/last) | Medals | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | G | S | B | T | |||||||
| 1 | Aleksei Barkalov | 1946 | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | FP | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 12 years (22/34) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | [2] | |
| 2 | Leonid Osipov | 1943 | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | FP | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 8 years (21/29) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | [3] | ||
| 3 | Yevgeny Sharonov | 1958 | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | GK | 1980 URS | 1988 URS | 1992 EUN | 12 years (21/33) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | [4] | ||
| 4 | Vladimir Semyonov | 1938 | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | FP | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 8 years (22/30) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | [5] | ||
| Viktor Ageyev | 1936 | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | FP | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 8 years (20/28) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | [6] | |||
Notes:
Top goalscorers
The following table is pre-sorted by number of total goals (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.
- Number of goalscorers (50+ goals): 0
- Number of goalscorers (40–49 goals): 0
- Number of goalscorers (30–39 goals): 1
- Last updated: 1 April 2021.
- Legend
- – Hosts
| Rk | Player | Birth | L/R | Total goals | Water polo tournaments (goals) | Age of first/last | ISHOF member | Note | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1 | Aleksei Barkalov | 1946 | 38 | 1968 (14) | 1972 (10) | 1976 (6) | 1980 (8) | 22/34 | 1993 | [7] | |||
Source:
- Official Reports (PDF): 1952–1980, 1988.
Note:
Goalkeepers
The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), cap number or name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively.
Last updated: 5 May 2021.
- Legend
- – Hosts
| Year | Cap No. | Goalkeeper | Birth | Age | ISHOF member | Note | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Boris Goykhman | 1919 | 33 | Starting goalkeeper | [8] | ||
| (Unknown) | |||||||
1956  | Boris Goykhman (2) | 1919 | 37 | [8] | |||
| Mikhail Ryzhak | 1927 | 29 | [9] | ||||
1960  | Leri Gogoladze | 1938 | 22 | [10] | |||
| Boris Goykhman (3) | 1919 | 41 | [8] | ||||
| 1964 | 1 | Igor Grabovsky | 1941 | 23 | [11] | ||
| 11 | Eduard Egorov | 1940 | 24 | [12] | |||
| 1968 | 1 | Vadim Gulyayev | 1941 | 27 | [13] | ||
| 11 | Oleg Bovin | 1946 | 22 | [14] | |||
1972  | 1 | Vadim Gulyayev (2) | 1941 | 31 | [13] | ||
| 11 | Viacheslav Sobchenko | 1949 | 23 | [15] | |||
| 1976 | 1 | Anatoly Klebanov | 1952 | 23 | [16] | ||
| 11 | Aleksandr Zakharov | 1954 | 22 | [17] | |||
| 1980 | 1 | Yevgeny Sharonov | 1958 | 21 | 2003 | [4] | |
| 11 | Viacheslav Sobchenko (2) | 1949 | 31 | [15] | |||
| 1988 | 1 | Yevgeny Sharonov (2) | 1958 | 29 | 2003 | [4] | |
| 13 | Mikheil Giorgadze | 1961 | 27 | [18] | |||
| 1992 | 1 | Yevgeny Sharonov (3) | 1958 | 33 | 2003 | [4] | |
| 13 | Alexander Tchigir | 1968 | 23 | [19] | |||
| Year | Cap No. | Goalkeeper | Birth | Age | ISHOF member | Note | Ref |
Note:
- Alexander Tchigir is also listed in Germany men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics.
Coach statistics
Most successful coaches
The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the coach (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 5 May 2021.
Boris Popov led the Soviet Union men's national water polo team to win an Olympic gold medal in 1980 and a bronze medal in 1988. Four years later, he coached the Unified Team men's national water polo team to another bronze medal.[20]
- Legend
- – Hosts
| Rk | Head coach | Nationality | Birth | Age | Men's team | Tournaments (finish) | Period | Medals | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | G | S | B | T | ||||||||
| 1 | Boris Popov | Soviet Union | 1941 | 39, 47 | Soviet Union | 1980 (1st) | 1988 (3rd) | 12 years | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | [21] [20] | |||
| Russia | 51 | Unified Team | 1992 (3rd) | |||||||||||||
Medals as coach and player
The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the person (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 5 May 2021.
Vladimir Semyonov, representing the Soviet Union, won three Olympic medals in a row between 1960 and 1968. As a head coach, he led the Soviet Union men's national water polo team to win an Olympic gold medal in 1972.[5]
Soviet Boris Popov won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. He guided the Soviet Union men's national team to two Olympic medals in 1980 and 1988, and the Unified Team to a bronze medal in 1992.[20]
Aleksandr Kabanov of the Soviet Union won a gold at the Munich Olympics in 1972, coached by Vladimir Semyonov. Eight years later, he won the second gold medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, coached by Boris Popov. As a head coach, he led Russia men's national team to win two consecutive medals in 2000 and 2004.[22][23]
- Legend
- Year* – As host team
| Rk | Person | Birth | Height | Player | Head coach | Total medals | Ref | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Men's team | Pos | Medal | Age | Men's team | Medal | G | S | B | T | |||||
| 1 | Aleksandr Kabanov | 1948 | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | 24, 32 | Soviet Union | FP | 1972 , 1980* | 52–56 | Russia | 2000 , 2004 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | [22] [23] |
| 2 | Vladimir Semyonov | 1938 | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | 22–30 | Soviet Union | FP | 1960 , 1964 , 1968 | 34 | Soviet Union | 1972 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | [5] |
| 3 | Boris Popov | 1941 | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | 23 | Soviet Union | FP | 1964 | 39, 47 | Soviet Union | 1980* , 1988 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | [21] [20] |
| 51 | Unified Team | 1992 | |||||||||||||
Olympic champions
1972 Summer Olympics
- Edition of men's tournament: 16th
- Host city:
Munich, West Germany - Number of participating teams: 16
- Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
- Champion:
Soviet Union (1st title; 1st place in preliminary C group; 1st place in final I group)
| Match | Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Goals for | Goals against | Goal diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/8 | Preliminary round – Group C | 27 August 1972 |  Italy | Won | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Match 2/8 | Preliminary round – Group C | 28 August 1972 |  Japan | Won | 11 | 1 | 10 |
| Match 3/8 | Preliminary round – Group C | 29 August 1972 |  Bulgaria | Won | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Match 4/8 | Preliminary round – Group C | 30 August 1972 |  Spain | Won | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| Match 5/8 | Final round – Group I | 1 September 1972 |  Yugoslavia | Won | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Match 6/8 | Final round – Group I | 2 September 1972 |  West Germany | Won | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Match 7/8 | Final round – Group I | 3 September 1972 |  United States | Drawn | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Match 8/8 | Final round – Group I | 4 September 1972 |  Hungary | Drawn | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | Matches played: 8 • Wins: 6 • Ties: 2 • Defeats: 0 • Win %: 75.0% | 48 | 24 | 24 | |||
Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1972 (pp. 358, 359, 363, 364, 365).
- Head coach: Vladimir Semyonov (1st title as head coach)
| Cap No. | Player | Pos | Height | Weight | Date of birth | Age of winning gold | Oly debut | Goals | ISHOF member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vadim Gulyayev | GK | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | 90 kg (198 lb) | 5 February 1941 | 31 years, 212 days | No | 0 | |
| 2 | Anatoly Akimov | FP | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | 84 kg (185 lb) | 15 November 1947 | 24 years, 294 days | Yes | 10 | |
| 3 | Aleksandr Dreval | FP | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | 89 kg (196 lb) | 17 July 1944 | 28 years, 49 days | Yes | 11 | |
| 4 | Aleksandr Dolgushin | FP | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | 99 kg (218 lb) | 7 March 1946 | 26 years, 181 days | No | 2 | 2010 |
| 5 | Vladimir Zhmudsky | FP | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | 81 kg (179 lb) | 23 January 1947 | 25 years, 225 days | Yes | 2 | |
| 6 | Aleksandr Kabanov | FP | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | 84 kg (185 lb) | 11 June 1948 | 24 years, 85 days | Yes | 1 | 2001 |
| 7 | Aleksei Barkalov | FP | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | 82 kg (181 lb) | 18 February 1946 | 26 years, 199 days | No | 10 | 1993 |
| 8 | Aleksandr Shidlovsky | FP | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | 82 kg (181 lb) | 1 February 1941 | 31 years, 216 days | No | 4 | |
| 9 | Nikolay Melnikov | FP | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | 86 kg (190 lb) | 24 January 1948 | 24 years, 224 days | Yes | 1 | |
| 10 | Leonid Osipov | FP | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | 90 kg (198 lb) | 6 February 1943 | 29 years, 211 days | No | 7 | |
| 11 | Viacheslav Sobchenko | GK | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | 86 kg (190 lb) | 18 April 1949 | 23 years, 139 days | Yes | 0 | |
| Average | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | 87 kg (192 lb) | 19 September 1945 | 26 years, 351 days | Total | 48 | |||
| Coach | Vladimir Semyonov | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | 10 May 1938 | 34 years, 117 days | |||||
Sources:
- Official Reports (PDF): 1972 (pp. 358, 359, 363, 364, 365);
- Olympedia: 1972 (men's tournament);
- Sports Reference: 1972 (men's tournament);
- ISHOF.
1980 Summer Olympics
- Edition of men's tournament: 18th
- Host city: Moscow, Soviet Union
- Number of participating teams: 12
- Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
- Champion: Soviet Union (2nd title; 1st place in preliminary A group; 1st place in final A group)
| Match | Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Goals for | Goals against | Goal diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/8 | Preliminary round – Group A | 20 July 1980 | Italy | Won | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| Match 2/8 | Preliminary round – Group A | 21 July 1980 | Spain | Won | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Match 3/8 | Preliminary round – Group A | 22 July 1980 |  Sweden | Won | 12 | 1 | 11 |
| Match 4/8 | Final round – Group A | 24 July 1980 | Hungary | Won | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Match 5/8 | Final round – Group A | 25 July 1980 | Spain | Won | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Match 6/8 | Final round – Group A | 26 July 1980 |  Cuba | Won | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| Match 7/8 | Final round – Group A | 28 July 1980 | Netherlands | Won | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Match 8/8 | Final round – Group A | 29 July 1980 | Yugoslavia | Won | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Total | Matches played: 8 • Wins: 8 • Ties: 0 • Defeats: 0 • Win %: 100% | 58 | 31 | 27 | |||
Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1980 (pp. 497, 500, 501, 502).
- Head coach: Boris Popov (1st title as head coach)
| Cap No. | Player | Pos | Height | Weight | Date of birth | Age of winning gold | Oly debut | Goals | ISHOF member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yevgeny Sharonov | GK | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | 96 kg (212 lb) | 11 December 1958 | 21 years, 231 days | Yes | 0 | 2003 |
| 2 | Sergey Kotenko | FP | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | 78 kg (172 lb) | 2 December 1956 | 23 years, 240 days | No | 9 | |
| 3 | Vladimir Akimov | FP | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | 80 kg (176 lb) | 20 July 1953 | 27 years, 9 days | Yes | 3 | |
| 4 | Yevgeny Grishin | FP | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) | 93 kg (205 lb) | 1 October 1959 | 20 years, 302 days | Yes | 5 | |
| 5 | Mait Riisman | FP | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | 83 kg (183 lb) | 23 September 1956 | 23 years, 310 days | Yes | 4 | |
| 6 | Aleksandr Kabanov | FP | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | 84 kg (185 lb) | 11 June 1948 | 32 years, 48 days | No | 5 | 2001 |
| 7 | Aleksei Barkalov | FP | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | 82 kg (181 lb) | 18 February 1946 | 34 years, 162 days | No | 8 | 1993 |
| 8 | Erkin Shagaev | FP | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | 74 kg (163 lb) | 12 February 1959 | 21 years, 168 days | Yes | 5 | |
| 9 | Giorgi Mshvenieradze | FP | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | 104 kg (229 lb) | 12 August 1960 | 19 years, 352 days | Yes | 9 | |
| 10 | Mikhail Ivanov | FP | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | 98 kg (216 lb) | 18 April 1958 | 22 years, 102 days | Yes | 10 | |
| 11 | Viacheslav Sobchenko | GK | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | 86 kg (190 lb) | 18 April 1949 | 31 years, 102 days | No | 0 | |
| Average | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | 87 kg (192 lb) | 3 April 1955 | 25 years, 117 days | Total | 58 | |||
| Coach | Boris Popov | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | 21 March 1941 | 39 years, 130 days | 2019 | ||||
Sources:
- Official Reports (PDF): 1980 (pp. 497, 500, 501, 502);
- Olympedia: 1980 (men's tournament);
- Sports Reference: 1980 (men's tournament);
- ISHOF.