The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad, first held in 1896, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The most recent Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) organises the Games and oversees the host city's preparations. In each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third place; this tradition began in 1904. The Winter Olympic Games were created out of the success of the Summer Olympics.
Lyudmila Andreyevna Kondratyeva is a Russian former track and field athlete, who competed for the Soviet Union and is the 1980 Olympic 100 m champion.
Larisa Semyonovna Latynina is a former Soviet artistic gymnast from southern Ukraine. Between 1956 and 1964 she won 14 individual Olympic medals and four team medals. She holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a gymnast, male or female, with 9. Her total of 18 Olympic medals was a record for 48 years. She held the record for individual event medals with 14 for 52 years. She is credited with helping to establish the Soviet Union as a dominant force in gymnastics.
Ludmilla Ivanovna Tourischeva, born October 7, 1952, is a former Russian gymnast and a nine-time Olympic medalist for the Soviet Union.
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russia.
Olga Valentinovna Korbut is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games, in which she competed in 1972 and 1976 for the Soviet team, and was the inaugural inductee to the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1988.
The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which ran from 1976 to 1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow nations to field their top players. The World Cup has occurred thrice before on an irregular basis, with the United States winning in 1996 and Canada winning in 2004 and 2016. Following the 2016 tournament, it is uncertain if the series will continue, with the 2020 tournament being cancelled.
Larisa Iosifovna Bogoraz was a dissident in the Soviet Union.
Sportin Latvia includes basketball, football, ice hockey, athletics, rugby, tennis, cycling, and others. Ice hockey is historically the most popular of the Latvian sports and is closely followed by basketball. Some of Latvia’s most notable athletes include hockey player Sandis Ozoliņš, football player Māris Verpakovskis, olympic javelin thrower Jānis Lūsis, two-time Olympic BMX champion Maris Strombergs, and basketball player Kristaps Porziņģis. National sport of Latvia is pisogu.
Chad competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. The country's participation at Athens marked its tenth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan. The delegation included two track and field athletes; Djikoloum Mobele in the men's 100 metres and Kaltouma Nadjina in the women's 400 metres. Both athletes participated at the Games through wild card places since they did not meet the required standards to qualify. Nadjina progressed past the first round of her competition, but was eliminated in the semi-finals.
Nellie Vladimirovna Kim is a retired Soviet gymnast who won three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, and two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. She was the second woman in Olympic history to earn a perfect 10 score and the first woman to score it on the vault and on the floor exercise, rivaling Nadia Comăneci, Ludmilla Tourischeva, and other strong competitors of the 1970s. Nellie Kim worked for a long time as a coach, training several national teams, and judged many major international competitions. As President of the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Technical Committee, she coordinates the introduction of new rules in women's gymnastics, as provided by the new Code of Points, developed by the FIG in 2004–2005 and in effect since 2006. Her gymnastic appearances are remembered for "her strong feminine, temperamental and charismatic appeal".
Tatyana Aleksandrovna Navka is a Russian ice dancer. With partner Roman Kostomarov, she is the 2006 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (2004–05), a three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2003–05), and a three-time European champion (2004–06). Earlier in her career, she competed for the Soviet Union and Belarus.
The United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in 1904. Women's basketball made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 1976.
Tamara Natanovna Press is a retired Soviet athlete who dominated the shot put and discus throw in the early 1960s. She won three gold and one silver medals at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and three European titles in 1958–1962. Between 1959 and 1965 she set 11 world records: five in the shot put and six in the discus. Domestically, she held 16 national titles, nine in the shot put (1958–66) and seven in the discus (1960–66).
Nina Antonovna Bocharova is a former Soviet/Ukrainian gymnast, who won five medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics. She was born in Suprunivka, Poltava Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.
Vera Samuilovna Krepkina is a retired Russian track athlete who competed for the Soviet Union at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics. At all these Olympics she finished fourth in the 4 × 100 m relay and was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m sprint. In 1960 she also took part in the long jump and won a surprise gold medal with an Olympic record of 6.37 m, ahead of the defending champion Elżbieta Krzesińska and the world record holder Hildrun Claus.
Country changing is a phenomenon in the figure skating world in which skaters change the country they represent in competition. There are many different reasons why competitors switch countries, but it mostly comes down to maximizing the possibility of being able to compete at the World Figure Skating Championships and the Winter Olympic Games. A skater who cannot do that representing their home country often looks for another one. Because spots to Worlds and the Olympics are allotted by country, not by skater, a skater can hope to transfer to a new country and have a better chance of becoming national champion, being sent to Worlds, and qualifying for a spot in the Olympics.
Ludmila Viktorovna Engquist is a Russian former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres hurdles. She competed for the Soviet Union, Russia and Sweden. She is the 1996 Olympic champion and the 1991 and 1997 World champion in the 100m hurdles. Her best time of 12.26 secs in 1992, ranks her fourth on the world all-time list. She is also a former world record holder in the 60 metres hurdles with 7.69 secs (1990).
Natalia Grigoryevna Kushnir is a former Soviet volleyball player and Olympic silver medalist.
