In 1992, the Olympic Games were held in Barcelona. This is the first time Spain has hosted sports competitions of this level. This was a good chance for the country to demonstrate its economic success after the end of the authoritarian regime.
1992 became quite difficult for many states politically. This could not but affect the Olympics. Teams from 169 countries took part in the games, but the USSR and Yugoslavia were not among them - these countries had by that time split into several states each. In the case of the athletes of the former USSR, it was decided to form a United Team, competing under a white flag with Olympic rings. However, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia decided to play as separate national teams. A similar situation occurred with Yugoslavia. The three seceded countries - Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina - presented independent teams. The rest of the Yugoslav athletes competed in the team of the Independent Olympic Participants.
The new team also became the German national team, for the first time since the unification of the country performing together. For the first time, athletes from Namibia went to the games.
Despite the loss of the Baltic athletes, the United Team of the former USSR was able to take first place in the unofficial medal standings. Swimmers and gymnasts were especially successful. In team sports, the women's basketball team won gold.
The United States came in second by a significant margin in the number of gold medals. American runners and tennis players have traditionally shown a high level of skill.
The third was the national team of the united Germany, since it was able to send the best athletes of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany, which are very strong in sports terms, to the games. The fourth was China, which was an excellent result for that country at the time. The dignified performance of Chinese athletes showed that the country pays more and more attention to sports. The final results of this policy were seen at the 2000s Olympics, when China became one of the recognized leaders in summer sports.
