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The Unified Team (Russian: Объединённая команда) was the name used for the sports team of the former Soviet Union (except the Baltic states) at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[1] The IOC country code was EUN, after the French name, Équipe unifiée. The Unified Team was sometimes informally called the CIS Team (Commonwealth of Independent States, as a counterpart of CIS national football team taking part in Euro 1992 of the same year), although Georgia did not join the CIS until 1993.
| Unified Team at the Olympics | |
|---|---|
 The Olympic flag | |
| IOC code | EUN |
| Medals Ranked 28th |
|
| Summer appearances | |
| Winter appearances | |
| Other related appearances | |
 Russian Empire (1900–1912) Estonia (1920–1936, 1992–) Latvia (1924–1936, 1992–) Lithuania (1924–1928, 1992–) Soviet Union (1952–1988) Armenia (1994–) Belarus (1994–) Georgia (1994–) Kazakhstan (1994–) Kyrgyzstan (1994–) Moldova (1994–) Russia (1994–2016) Ukraine (1994–) Uzbekistan (1994–) Azerbaijan (1996–) Tajikistan (1996–) Turkmenistan (1996–) Olympic Athletes from Russia (2018) ROC (2020–2022) Individual Neutral Athletes (2024) | |
The team finished second in the medal table at the 1992 Winter Games, and first at the 1992 Summer Games, edging its old rival the US in the latter.
Ceremonies procedures
editAt the 1992 Winter Olympics, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the constituent countries had not yet been affiliated to the IOC due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union having only taken place little more than two months prior. During the opening ceremony, the team's placard displayed Équipe unifiée in large print, with the names of the five participating countries displayed in smaller print below, and both the French and English announcers announced only the names of the participating countries without announcing the name "Unified Team". Russian flagbearer Valeriy Medvedtsev followed, carrying the Olympic Flag, followed by the team's athletes in no particular order, each carrying a small flag representing their individual country.[2]
By the time of the 1992 Summer Olympics, the NOCs had affiliated separately, though they fielded a joint team with a standard uniform as Olympic qualifying rounds had been completed before the final demise of the Soviet Union. During the opening ceremony, the team's four-sided placard displayed "Unified Team" in the four official languages (French, English, Spanish, and Catalan), followed by Russian flagbearer Aleksandr Karelin carrying the Olympic Flag, followed by three more four-sided placards displaying the 12 constituent countries in English, followed by 12 flagbearers carrying the national flags of the 12 countries, followed by the athletes, all in no particular order. The announcers announced the name "Unified Team" in multiple languages, followed by the Spanish announcer announcing all 12 countries.[3] During medals ceremonies, where an EUN individual won a medal, the national flag of the medalist's nation was raised rather than the Olympic flag, and a gold medalist's national anthem was played rather than the Olympic Hymn. In team events, the EUN team continued to use the Olympic flag and the Olympic Hymn, as team members represented different nations.[4][5][6]
Participating countries
editWhile only five of the EUN countries took part in the 1992 Winter Olympics, all twelve participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics. At the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics, the nations that were part of the Unified Team started to make their Olympic debuts as independent countries.
| Country (former Soviet republic) |
IOC code (1994–) |
|---|---|
| ARM | |
| AZE | |
| BLR | |
| GEO | |
| KAZ | |
| KGZ | |
| MDA | |
| RUS | |
| TJK | |
| TKM | |
| UKR | |
| UZB |
* Unified Team participant in the Winter Olympic Games.
** Kyrgyzstan paraded under its former name Kirghizia, and Turkmenistan paraded under its former name Turkmenia.
Timeline of participation
edit| Date | Team | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900–1912 | |||||||||
| 1920 | |||||||||
| 1924–1936 | as part of | ||||||||
| 1952–1988 | |||||||||
| 1992 | |||||||||
| 1994 | |||||||||
| 1996–2016 | |||||||||
| 2018 | |||||||||
| 2020–2022 | |||||||||
| 2024– | |||||||||
Medal tables
edit
Medals by Summer Gamesedit
|
Medals by Winter Gamesedit
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals by summer sportedit
|
Medals by winter sportedit
|
Flag bearers
edit1992 Albertville Winter Olympics - Valeriy Medvedtsev (Biathlon)
1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics - Aleksandr Karelin (Wrestling)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Olympedia, Unified team (EUN)". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremony - Full Length. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 May 2024 – via Youtube.
- ^ "Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremony - Full Length | Barcelona 1992 Replays". YouTube.
- ^ "Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics - Athletes, Medals & Results". olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
... The other ex-Soviet republics participated as a "unified team", although the winners were honoured under the flags of their own republics. ...'
- ^ Anthem of Ukraine (1992 Summer Olympics, artistic gymnastics, women's all-around, Tatiana Gutsu). Anthems of Ukraine - Youtube Channel. Retrieved 17 May 2024 – via Youtube.
- ^ Medal Ceremony Yelena Romanova 1992 Russian Anthem [First Playing] (Barcelona Olympics 1992). RSFSR - Youtube Channel. Retrieved 17 May 2024 – via Youtube.
External links
edit- "Olympic Results". International Olympic Committee.
- "Unified Team". Olympedia.com.
- "Olympic Analytics/EUN". olympanalyt.com.