Unified Team

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The Unified Team (EUN) was allowed by the IOC to use the Olympic Emblem in place of a national flag.
The Unified Team (EUN) was allowed by the IOC to use the Olympic Emblem in place of a national flag.

The Unified Team 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. The official French name used was Equipe Unifiée, hence the abbreviation EUN which appears in result listings. The Unified Team was sometimes informally called the CIS Team (Commonwealth of Independent States), although Georgia did not join the CIS until 1993.

During the Winter Olympics, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the constituent countries had not yet been affiliated to the IOC, so the Olympic Flag was used in place of a national flag at the Opening Ceremony and at medals ceremonies, and the Olympic Hymn was played for gold medallists. This was repeated at the Summer Olympics, except for medallists in individual events. By the time of the Summer Olympics, the NOCs had affiliated separately, though they fielded a joint team with a standard uniform. Where an EUN individual won a medal, the national flag of the medallist's nation was raised rather than the Olympic flag; and a gold medallist's national anthem was played rather than the Olympic Hymn.

While only six of the EUN countries took part in the 1992 Winter Olympics, all twelve participated in the Summer Olympics. For details of the Unified Team's participation, see:

Table of the EUN's participating countries, the IOC codes used by them in subsequent Olympics, and their extent of 1992 participation
Country (former
Soviet republic)		 IOC code
(1994–)		 Winter
Games		 Summer
Games
Flag of Armenia Armenia ARM X all twelve EUN countries
Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan AZE  
Flag of Belarus Belarus BLR X
Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia GEO  
Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan KAZ X
Flag of Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan KGZ  
Flag of Moldova Moldova MDA  
Flag of Russia Russia RUS X
Flag of Tajikistan Tajikistan TJK  
Flag of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan TKM  
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine UKR X
Flag of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan UZB X

X - Marks a nation which participated as part of the Unified Team not only at the 1992 Summer Olympics but also at the 1992 Winter Olympics.

Performance:

  • The Unified Team finished second to Germany in the overall medal tally at Albertville with 9 golds, 6 silvers, and 8 bronzes; 23 medals in total
  • The team finished first at Barcelona with 45 golds, 38 silvers, and 29 bronzes; 112 medals in total

(Note, however, that the International Olympic Committee does not officially recognise national medal totals.)

[edit] See also