USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series

Last updated October 31, 2021

USA-USSR Dual Track Meet Series was a track and field meeting between United States and Soviet Union. It was held 19 times during the Cold War era from 1958 to 1985. The meeting was arranged alternatively in both countries, exception being the last event in 1985 which was held in Tokyo, Japan. Seven indoor meetings were also competed in the 1970s. Although the meetings were foremost athletic competitions, they served as propaganda and foreign diplomacy tools as well.^[1]

The most classic meeting is considered the 1962 competition in Stanford, California, with an attendance of more than 150,000 on a two-day event, the largest ever on a non-Olympic track and field competition. Even the Soviet workouts attracted crowds of 5,000.^[2] Two world records were set in Stanford, Valeriy Brumel on high jump and Hal Connolly on hammer throw. Though the Stanford meeting was held just two months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, the athletes exhibited mutual friendship, with both Soviet and American athletes congratulating Brumel on his feat and both nations' athletes completing a lap of honour at the end of competition.^[3]

Editions

Year	Date	Location	Venue	Winner	Total	Men	Women
1958	27–28 July	Moscow	Lenin Stadium	Soviet Union	172 – 170	126 – 109	63 – 44
1959	18–19 July	Philadelphia	Franklin Field	Soviet Union	175 – 167	127 – 108	67 – 40
1961	15–16 July	Moscow	Lenin Stadium	Soviet Union	179 – 160	124 – 111	68 – 36
1962	21–22 July	Stanford	Stanford Stadium	Soviet Union	173 – 169	128 – 107	66 – 41
1963	20–21 July	Moscow	Lenin Stadium	Soviet Union	189 – 147	119 – 114	75 – 28
1964	25–26 July	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Coliseum	United States	187 – 156	139 – 97	59 – 48
1965	31 July–1 August	Kiev	Central Stadium	Soviet Union	181.5 – 155.5	118 – 112	63.5 – 43.5
1969	18–19 July	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Coliseum	United States	195 – 178	125 – 111	70 – 67
1970	23–24 July	Leningrad	Lenin Stadium	Soviet Union	200 – 173	122 – 114	78 – 59
1971	2–3 July	Berkeley	Edwards Stadium	Soviet Union United States	186 – 186	126 – 110	76 – 60
1973	23–24 July	Minsk	Republic Stadium	Soviet Union	216 – 163	121 – 112	95 – 51
1974	5–6 July	Durham	Wallace Wade Stadium	Soviet Union	192 – 184	117 – 102	90 – 67
1975	4–5 July	Kiev	Central Stadium	Soviet Union	225 – 138	129 – 89	96 – 49
1976	6–7 August	College Park	Byrd Stadium	Soviet Union	211 – 157	115 – 107	104 – 42
1977	1–2 July	Sochi	Central Stadium	Soviet Union	207 – 171	118 – 105	89 – 66
1978	7–8 July	Berkeley	Edwards Stadium	United States	190 – 177	119 – 102	75 – 71
1981	11–12 July	Leningrad	Lenin Stadium	Soviet Union	204 – 178	118 – 105	99 – 60
1982	2–3 July	Indianapolis	Indiana University	Soviet Union	207 – 167	118 – 100	89 – 67
1985	21–22 September	Tokyo	National Olympic Stadium	Soviet Union	221 – 164	114 – 104	117 – 50

Indoor meetings

Year	Date	Location	Venue	Winner	Total	Men	Women
1972	17 March	Richmond	Richmond Coliseum	United States	131 – 112	79 – 69	54 – 43
1973	16 March	Richmond	Richmond Coliseum	Soviet Union	146 – 141	84 – 76	65 – 62
1974	2 March	Moscow	Brothers Znamensky Olympic Centre	Soviet Union	163 – 126	89 – 72	74 – 65
1975	3 March	Richmond	Richmond Coliseum	United States	171 – 106	98 – 62	73 – 44
1976	6 March	Leningrad	Zimniy Stadion	Soviet Union	171 – 117	96 – 64	75 – 53
1977	3–4 March	Toronto	Maple Leaf Gardens	United States	159 – 120	90 – 69	69 – 51
1979	3 March	Fort Worth	Tarrant County Convention Center	United States	121 – 118	75 – 66	52 – 46

World records

Year	Athlete	Nation	Sex	Event	Record
1958	Oleg Ryakhovskiy	Soviet Union	Men	Triple jump	16.59 m
1958	Rafer Johnson	United States	Men	Decathlon	8302 pts
1961	Valeriy Brumel	Soviet Union	Men	High jump	2.24 m
1961	Ralph Boston	United States	Men	Long jump	8.28 m
1961	Willye White Ernestine Pollards Vivian Brown Wilma Rudolph	United States	Women	4 × 100 m relay	44.3
1961	Tatyana Shchelkanova	Soviet Union	Women	Long jump	6.48 m
1961	Tamara Press	Soviet Union	Women	Discus throw	57.43 m
1962	Valeriy Brumel	Soviet Union	Men	High jump	2.26 m
1962	Hal Connolly	United States	Men	Hammer throw	70.67 m
1963	Valeriy Brumel	Soviet Union	Men	High jump	2.28 m
1964	Fred Hansen	United States	Men	Pole vault	5.28 m
1964	Dallas Long	United States	Men	Shot put	20.67 m
1965	Wyomia Tyus	United States	Women	100 m	11.1
1974	Lyudmila Bragina	Soviet Union	Women	3000 m	8:52.74
1976	Lyudmila Bragina	Soviet Union	Women	3000 m	8:27.12

Multiple winners

Athlete	Nation	Wins	Years	Event	Sex
Volodymyr Holubnychy	Soviet Union	6	1959, 1962, 1964, 1969–1970, 1976	20 km race walk	Men
Viktor Saneyev	Soviet Union	6	1969, 1971, 1973-1976	Triple jump	Men
Taisia Chenchik	Soviet Union	6	1958–1959, 1962–1963, 1965	High jump	Women
Tamara Press	Soviet Union	6	1959, 1961-1965	Shot put and discus throw	Women
Nadezhda Chizhova	Soviet Union	6	1969–1971, 1973–1974, 1976	Shot put	Women
Faina Melnik	Soviet Union	6	1971, 1973–1974, 1976-1978	Discus throw	Women
Lyudmila Bragina	Soviet Union	5	1969–1970, 1973, 1974, 1976	1500 m and 3000 m	Women
Valeriy Brumel	Soviet Union	5	1961-1965	High jump	Men
Jānis Lūsis	Soviet Union	5	1962–1965, 1969	Javelin throw	Men
Ralph Boston	United States	4	1961–1963, 1965	Long jump	Men
Tatyana Shchelkanova	Soviet Union	4	1961–1963, 1965	Long jump	Women
Irina Press	Soviet Union	4	1961–1963, 1965	80 m hurdles	Women
Elvīra Ozoliņa	Soviet Union	4	1961–1963, 1973	Javelin throw	Women

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References

↑ Turrini, p. 1–2
↑ "Track and field's greatest dual meet is turning 50". Palo Alto Online. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
↑ "USA vs. USSR, 1962: The Greatest Track Meet of All Time". Bleacher's Report. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2014.

Turrini, Joseph M.: "“It Was Communism Versus the Free World”: The USA-USSR Dual Track Meet Series and the Development of Track and Field in the United states, 1958–1985" Journal of Sports History. Volume 28, Number 3, 2001.

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[1] Turrini, p. 1–2

[2] "Track and field's greatest dual meet is turning 50". Palo Alto Online. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2014.

[3] "USA vs. USSR, 1962: The Greatest Track Meet of All Time". Bleacher's Report. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2014.

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