Estonia (EST)

Three Estonian athletes were members of the Russian team at the 1912 Olympic Games. 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 in 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 Estonians were 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 2022, Estonia has won 44 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 36 medals at the Summer Olympics (10 golds). At the Summer Olympics, the Estonian athlete with the best record is wrestler Kristjan Palusalu, with two medals, both golds.

Estonia first competed at the Olympic Winter Games of 1928, and also competed in 1932 and 1936. Competing continuously since 1992 Albertville, Estonia has appeared at 11 Olympic Winter Games, and has won eight medals, with four gold medals, in cross-country skiing and freestyle skiing. Estonians have competed in Alpine skiing (9 athletes), biathlon (32), cross-country skiing (42), figure skating (14), freestyle skiing (1), luge (2), Nordic combined (11), ski jumping (8), and speed skating (4).

Two Estonian cross-country skiers, Andrus Veerpalu and Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, have both won three Olympic medals, both with two golds and one silver. The other Estonian Winter Olympic medals were won by cross-country skier Jaak Mae in the 2002 men’s 15 kilometres event, and by freestyle skier Kelly Sildaru in the 2022 women’s slopestyle event.

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.