Estonia

Three Estonian athletes were members of the Russian team at the 1912 Olympic Games and, as a separate nation, Estonia competed at the Olympic Games continuously from 1920 to 1936. At the 1924 Olympic Winter Games, Estonia was represented at the Opening Ceremony, but no athletes competed. They first competed at the Olympic Winter Games of 1928 and also competed in 1932 and 1936. From 1952-88, Estonia was a republic of the USSR and thus did not compete as an independent nation, but many Estonian athletes competed for the Soviet Union. During this time the most successful Estonias have been the fencer Svetlana Tširkova (two gold in 1968 and 1972), the weightlifter Jaan Talts (one gold and one silver in 1968 and 1972) as well as the swimmer Ivar Stukolkin, who won gold and bronze in 1980.

When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Estonia declared and was granted its independence. The nation returned to the Olympic fold by competing in 1992 in both Albertville and Barcelona, and has competed at every Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games since. Through 2016, Estonia has won 41 Olympic medals, with 21 from 1920 to 1936. Thirteen of these were gold medals, including an emotional victory for Erika Salumäe in women’s match sprint cycling in 1992. Estonia has won 34 medals at the Summer Olympics, and seven at the Winter Olympics. Two Estonian cross-country skier, Andrus Veerpalu and Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, have both won three Olympic medals. Estonia has never hosted an Olympic Games, but in 1980, all of the sailing events of the Moscow Olympics were actually held in the Gulf of Finland off Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.