Soviet Union women's national volleyball team

The Soviet Union women's national volleyball team was the team that played volleyball for the Soviet Union in big international games from 1952 until 1991. They were one of the best teams in the world during that time.

The team won many important prizes, including four times at the Summer Olympics, five times at the World Championships, once at the World Cup, and thirteen times at the European Championships. Their first big win was in 1952, when they won the very first FIVB Women's World Championship.

Even though the Soviet Union no longer exists, their records are still kept and Russia is considered the team that carries on those achievements. The team showed great skill and teamwork, making volleyball very popular around the world.

History

The USSR Volleyball Federation joined the FIVB in 1948. In 1952, they sent a team to the very first World Championship. After that, the team often won top prizes in big international competitions like the Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championships, and the World Cup.

Major world titles

^# – The team won 4 major titles in a row during the late 1960s and early 1970s. These titles included the World Women's Volleyball Championship, the World Cup, and the Olympic Games.

Year	Games	Host	Runners-up	3rd place
1952	1st World Championship	Soviet Union	Poland	Czechoslovakia
1956	2nd World Championship	France	Romania	Poland
1960	3rd World Championship	Brazil	Japan	Czechoslovakia
1968#	19th Olympic Games	Mexico	Japan	Poland
1970#	6th World Championship	Bulgaria	Japan	North Korea
1972#	20th Olympic Games	West Germany	Japan	North Korea
1973#	1st World Cup	Uruguay	Japan	South Korea
1980	22nd Olympic Games	Soviet Union	East Germany	Bulgaria
1988	24th Olympic Games	South Korea	Peru	China
1990	11th World Championship	China	China	United States

Results

The Soviet Union women's national volleyball team was very successful in international competitions between 1952 and 1991. They won many medals in the Olympic Games, FIVB World Championship, FIVB World Cup, and European Championship.

Olympic Games

The team won gold medals in 1968, 1972, 1980, and 1988, and silver medals in 1964, 1976, and 1992 as part of the Unified Team.

FIVB World Championship

They won gold medals in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1970, and 1990. They also won silver medals in 1962 and 1974, and a bronze medal in 1978. In 1982 and 1986, they finished in 6th place.

FIVB World Cup

The team won a gold medal in 1973, bronze medals in 1981, 1985, and 1991, and a silver medal in 1989. In 1977, they tied for 7th place.

European Championship

They won many gold medals in the European Championship, including in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1958, 1963, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1985, 1989, and 1991. They also won silver medals in 1955, 1981, 1983, and 1987.

1990 Last World Championship squad

The coach of the team was Nikolay Karpol.