Athlete, fighter, Olympic champion Alexander Aleksandrovich Karelin was born on September 19, 1967 in Novosibirsk. The boy was born into a simple family. Father - Alexander Ivanovich worked as a dump truck driver and was a non-professional boxer. Mother - Zinaida Ivanovna - an employee. Both parents are quite large, and the boy was born with a heroic weight of five and a half kilograms.
Alexander has been involved in sports since childhood. When he was 14 years old, Sasha entered the Greco-Roman wrestling section "Burevestnik". His coach Viktor Mikhailovich Kuznetsov noticed Alexander on the street. He was distinguished by his impressive height and precocious physique. V.M. Kuznets became the only coach of Alexander Karelin.
Initially, the mother did not accept her son’s hobby; she was afraid of constant injuries, broken arms and legs, without which attending sections and competitions was necessary. During the regional championship, Alexander broke his leg. Zinaida Ivanovna burned his uniform and forbade him to attend classes. However, the young man refused. This was the beginning of his sports career.
After receiving secondary education, Alexander entered the Novosibirsk Motor Transport College. While studying, the future Olympic champion decided to become a cadet at the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School. In the same year he was sent to serve in a sports company of the Siberian Military District. Then Alexander entered and graduated from the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
After serving in the army, Alexander entered the Omsk Institute of Physical Education, then joined the country’s sports team.
Sports career of Alexander Karelin
Karelin's sporting life was rich a large number victories Alexander received his only defeat in his entire career at the USSR Championship, losing one point to his opponent. From that time on, a series of victories began in the sports career of Alexander Karelin.
The first success is winning the youth championship USSR in 1985. Subsequently, Alexander wins such competitions as the USSR Junior Championship, the RSFSR Summer Spartakiad, the European Junior Championship, the RSFSR Championship, international tournament in memory of Ivan Poddubny.
The wrestler received his first Olympic gold in 1988, defeating the Bulgarian athlete Rangel Gerovski in the final. In 1992, Alexander won his second gold at the Olympics in Barcelona. The athlete's last competition is the Olympics in Sydney, where for the first time in 13 years of his sports career the wrestler received silver medal. Alexander Karelin announced his retirement from his sports career.
Personal life and family
Alexander always put his family first in his life. He has a wife and three children - two sons and a daughter. One of the sons followed in his father’s footsteps and is professionally involved in Greco-Roman wrestling. Ivan took fifth place at the Russian Championship in 2014. Vasilisa’s daughter is a professional gymnast.
Currently, Alexander Karelin is completely devoted to politics. He was elected to the State Duma of Russia several times and received the Hero of Russia award. In 2013 he was awarded a certificate of honor from the President of Russia. Alexander believes that he can and should serve society. His dissertation “Systems of Integral Training of Highly Qualified Wrestlers” became a practical guide for many Russian athletes.
Alexander Alexandrovich Karelin. Born on September 19, 1967 in Novosibirsk. Soviet and Russian athlete, classical (Greco-Roman) style wrestler, three-time Olympic champion (1988, 1992, 1996), statesman and political figure, deputy State Duma five convocations. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1988), Hero Russian Federation (1997).
Father - Alexander Ivanovich Karelin, driver.
Mother - Zinaida Ivanovna Karelina, civil servant.
As a child, I was a bully. As Alexander said, he could steal a neighbor’s dog to play at border guards, make a fire in the wrong place, and it happened that he and his friends dropped in at the local bakery named after Yakushev to get hot bread there. For this, he got it from his parents, his mother was especially strict with him: “The most severe punishment was when my mother did not talk to me. There was also Russian pedagogy from my father, but I still remember more as my mother for an absolutely seemingly harmless phrase: “ Mom, are you crazy? - didn't talk to me long enough. It was for me. best lesson. Now I already understand that my mother, in principle, was much stricter."
WITH early years I couldn't pronounce the letter "R" well.
As a child, I dreamed of following in my father’s footsteps and becoming a big truck driver. He learned to drive a car early from his father, he was well versed in technology, and already as a teenager he could assemble and disassemble a car with his own hands. Later he received the profession of a mechanical technician, and even received the right to drive road trains.
Since childhood, Alexander Karelin was fond of sports, starting with hockey and swimming. Once on the street of Novosibirsk, a young man who introduced himself as Viktor Mikhailovich Kuznetsov approached the boys playing. This man, who later became Karelin’s only coach, noticed a strong, tall guy - at the age of 13, Karelin was 178 cm tall and weighed 78 kg. Kuznetsov invited him to the gym.
And in 1981 he enrolled in the section classical wrestling at the Electrical Engineering Institute.
At the age of 15, he broke his leg, after which his mother even burned his uniform and forbade him to engage in wrestling. But he did not give up his favorite pastime.
In 1984, Karelin fulfilled the standard for Master of Sports of the USSR, and in 1985 he fulfilled the standard for Master of Sports of the USSR of international class.
The first success came in 1985 - Alexander Karelin became the world champion among youth.
In 1986, at a tournament in Sweden, world champion Thomas Johansson refused to fight Karelin in the final, and 1st place was given to Karelin.
Served in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In 1988, despite a concussion and high temperature, Karelin became the USSR champion for the first time, winning by pinfall against the leader of the USSR national team, two-time world champion Igor Rostorotsky. The national team's coaches were not satisfied with these results, and in July an additional selection was held between the wrestlers, which 21-year-old Karelin won with a score of 2-0. In the same year he won the Grand Prix in Neuss, Germany, and the FILA Grand Prix Gala of the International Amateur Wrestling Federation in Budapest.
In 1988, Karelin participated in his first Olympics, at that time he weighed 112 kg. In the finals of the Seoul Olympics, Karelin met with Bulgarian Rangel Gerovski. Alexander lost the first period 2:3, but in the end he won 15 seconds before the end of the fight with his favorite technique - the “reverse belt” throw - 4:3.
Immediately after the Olympics, he was awarded the title “Honored Master of Sports of the USSR.”
In 1990, at the World Championships in Ostia, Karelin won all the fights on the carcass using the “reverse belt” technique. Then, at a tournament in Germany in the spring of 1991, he won all the fights on the “carcass” using the same technique.
The “reverse belt” was Alexander Karelin’s signature throw - in the heavyweight division only he could perform such a throw.
In 1992, in the finals of the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Karelin clearly won against the world champion and twenty-time champion of Sweden, Thomas Johansson. The Swedish wrestler did not last more than two minutes.
In 1993 at the World Championships, in the first fight with the American wrestler Matt Ghaffari, the winner of the World Cup was injured: he damaged two ribs with right side. One - the bottom one - came off, the other - next to it - broke. 20 minutes after the fight with Gaffari, Karelin went to fight Johansson, who already knew about his injury. Karelin managed to pull him into the “reverse belt” three times and throw him. Karelin won with a score of 12:1. In the final he defeated Sergei Mureiko and again became the world champion.
In 1994, at the World Championships, he defeated Hector Milian (Cuba), an Olympic champion in weight category 100 kg. The culmination of 1994 was the “Match of the Century” in Greco-Roman wrestling between the world and Russian teams, held at the Druzhba sports complex in Moscow.
Karelin's fight with Hector Milian ended in a knockout after 1 minute 29 seconds. The Russian team won with a total score of 9:1.
In 1995, in the final of the World Championship, Karelin defeated Sergei Mureiko. In October 1995, the IV international tournament for the prizes of Alexander Karelin was held in Novosibirsk, Karelin himself took part in it, won all the fights ahead of schedule on the “carcass”, each with a score of 10:0. The culmination of the tournament was the duel between him and Matt Ghaffari, which Karelin won with an amplitude “reverse belt” - the score was 10:0.
In March 1996, at the European Championships, in a fight with Dmitry Debelko, he was injured - the gap was large pectoral muscle. Just like three years ago, he reached the final, fought literally with one hand and defeated Petr Kotka (Ukraine) with a score of 3:0. I started training only in June, and in July I went to the Olympics in Atlanta. In Atlanta he also dominated even with an unhealed serious injury. In 2 minutes he defeated the African champion Omran Ayari with a score of 10:0, then achieved “clean” victories over Juha Ahokas (Finland) and Panayotes Poikilidis (Greece). In the semi-finals he defeated Sergei Mureiko with a score of 2:0. The fight with him was difficult: acute pain caused “uncontrollability of the arm.”
On Olympic Games 1996 in Atlanta in the final, Karelin again defeated Ghaffari with a score of 1:0. After the end of the fight, Ghaffari began to cry.
In the 1997 World Championships in the final, Karelin defeated Mihaly Deak-Bardos (Hungary) with his “reverse belt” with a score of 11:0.
In 1977, Karelin was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation.
In 1998, at the World Championships in the final, Karelin again defeated Ghaffari by touch.
In the 1999 World Championships, Karelin defeated Hector Milian in the final with a score of 3:0.
In 2000, at the Olympics in Sydney, Karelin faced one of the strongest opponents in his first fight - Sergey Mureiko (Bulgaria). Karelin won this fight with a score of 3:0. In the second fight, Karelin defeated the strong Mihaly Deak-Bardos (Hungary) by touch. Georgiy Soldadze (Ukraine) won in the quarterfinals. In the semi-finals he defeated the strong Dmitry Debelko (Belarus).
In the final he met with American wrestler Rulon Gardner. After the first period the score was 0:0, according to the rules in force at that time, after the break the athletes were placed in a cross hold. Karelin was the first to unclench his hands, which was a violation of the rules; Gardner was awarded the winning point. As a result, the American wrestler won with a score of 1:0, and Karelin, for the first time in 13 years, received silver award.
After the Games in Sydney, Alexander Karelin completed sports career. No one managed to put Karelin on his shoulder blades.
The athlete later said about his defeats: “I have a lot of them - as many as seven. It’s especially painful to remember the loss to Rulon Gardner at the Olympics in Sydney. We later met with him at another Olympics. Both were there as commentators on the television channels of their countries.”
In 1999, Alexander Karelin received an offer to fight according to the rules mixed martial arts with Japanese fighter Akira Maeda. Prize fund was 1,000,000 US dollars. The fight took place on February 20, 1999 in Tokyo. In accordance with the Olympic Charter, Karelin did not have the right to participate in commercial fights, so the fight was held without remuneration. According to the rules of the fight, Karelin was supposed to use only Greco-Roman wrestling techniques, and Maeda - mixed martial arts techniques. Alexander Karelin won this fight on points: after the fight, tired Maeda needed help to walk.
The achievements of Alexander Karelin are truly legendary. Three-time winner of the Olympic Games in the category up to 130 kg (1988, 1992, 1996), nine-time world champion (1989-1991, 1993-1995, 1997-1999), twelve-time European champion, silver medalist Olympic Games 2000, world champion among juniors in 1985, 13-time champion of the USSR, CIS and Russia (1988-2000). He was the standard-bearer of the national team at the opening of three Olympic Games: 1988 - USSR, 1992 - CIS, 1996 - Russia. Recognized twice best athlete Russia.
Alexander Karelin is recognized by the International Federation of United Wrestling Styles greatest fighter Greco-Roman style of the 20th century.
From 1992 to 2011 in Russia, in the cities of Siberian Federal District wrestling tournaments “Karelin Prize” were held. Since 1997, the “Karelin Prize” has been given the status of qualifying for the World and European Championships in Greco-Roman wrestling among cadets (15-16 years old). The tournament became a launching pad for young athletes wishing to achieve high results at prestigious Greco-Roman wrestling competitions. Five winners of the Karelin Prize became winners of the Olympic Games. These are Alexander Karelin (1988, 1992, 1996), Murat Kardanov (2000), Varteres Samurgashev (2000), Alexey Mishin (2004), Roman Vlasov (2012, 2016).
Participated in the ceremony of bringing the Olympic flame to the stadium during the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi on February 7, 2014.
Social and political activities of Alexander Karelin
In 1995-1999, he was an employee of the Russian tax police. Special rank: tax police colonel.
Alexander Karelin graduated from the Novosibirsk Motor Transport College, then from the Omsk Institute physical culture. Candidate (1998) Doctor (2002) of Pedagogical Sciences. Theses are devoted to sports topics.
Since 2001 - member of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party.
Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of five convocations (1999-2003, 2003-2007, 2007-2011, 2011-2016, 2016-2017). He was a member of the Duma Committee on Health and Sports, a member of the Commission on Geopolitics. Since December 2007 - member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs. Since September 2016, he worked on the Energy Committee.
In 2014, he supported the policy on Ukraine and Crimea. Regarding the situation in Ukraine, Karelin said: “Our armed forces can enter the territory of Ukraine only as part of a peacekeeping contingent. We have no other choice. Think for yourself: do you want to fight against the fraternal people, send your relatives there? The answer is obvious - no. Another matter "There is great confidence that the policy of the current Kyiv leadership has no future. However, Ukraine is reaping the fruits of its course of recent years. The leaders of our neighbors wanted to please everyone, without taking into account their state interests at all. This is what we are seeing today."
In the 2016 elections, running in Iskitim single-mandate electoral district No. 137, he received 55.9% of the votes.
During the 2018 presidential elections, he was a member of the initiative group that nominated the candidacy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Alexander Karelin's height: 191 centimeters.
Personal life of Alexander Karelin:
Married. Wife - Olga Karelina. When I performed on the carpet, I dedicated all my victories to my wife. He met Olga at a tram stop. He recalled this with humor: “It’s good that it was light - six o’clock in the evening, summer. Otherwise, in the dark, with my appearance, you can’t approach the girls - they run away shouting “Help!”
The couple has three children: sons Denis and Ivan, and daughter Vasilisa. Son Ivan is engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling, Denis is a racing driver, daughter Vasilisa is interested in rhythmic gymnastics.
“I am raising my three children in absentia. Just as I went away to compete as a child, I still haven’t really come back. But nevertheless, we have strict rules in our family. This is the correct system - democracy. There are no concepts of “I don’t know”, “I don’t want” , “I won’t.” You have to know, you have to want it, and if you don’t want it, you will anyway,” he said.
Karelin has a house in Novosibirsk. Also often visits Moscow.
Sports achievements of Alexander Karelin:
Olympic Games:
Gold - Seoul 1988 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Barcelona 1992 - up to 130 kg (for the Unified Team)
Gold - Atlanta 1996 - up to 130 kg
Silver - Sydney 2000 - up to 130 kg
Friendship-84:
Gold - Budapest 1984 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
World Championships:
Gold - Martigny 1989 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Ostia 1990 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Varna 1991 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Stockholm 1993 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Tampere 1994 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Prague 1995 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Wroclaw 1997 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Gävle 1998 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Athens 1999 - up to 130 kg
Wrestling World Cup:
Gold - Albany 1987 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Besansan 1992 - up to 130 kg (for the Unified Team)
European Championships:
Gold - Kulbotn 1988 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Oulu 1989 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Poznan 1990 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Aschaffenburg 1991 - up to 130 kg (for the USSR)
Gold - Copenhagen 1992 - up to 130 kg (for the Unified Team)
Gold - Istanbul 1993 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Athens 1994 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Besançon 1995 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Budapest 1996 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Minsk 1998 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Sofia 1999 - up to 130 kg
Gold - Moscow 2000 - up to 130 kg
Records of Alexander Karelin:
He is included in the Guinness Book of Records as an athlete who has not lost a single fight for thirteen years;
- The first three-time Olympic champion up to 130 kg Greco-Roman style;
- Nine-time world champion up to 130 kg Greco-Roman style;
- Twelve-time European champion up to 130 kg Greco-Roman style;
- Thirteen-time champion of the USSR, CIS and Russia up to 130 kg Greco-Roman style;
- Over the course of his entire sports career, he won 888 fights;
- Three times he was the standard bearer of the national team at the opening of three Olympic Games: 1988 - USSR, 1992 - CIS, 1996 - Russia;
- First, at the age of 21, he became the youngest Olympic champion up to 130 kg Greco-Roman style;
- In 1986 he took part in fourteen tournaments and he won all the tournaments.
Awards and titles of Alexander Karelin:
Master of Sports of the USSR (1984);
- Master of Sports of the USSR of international class (1985);
- Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1988);
- Friendship of Peoples (1989);
- Winner of the Fair Play movement prize for fair play in sports, founded by the Russian Olympic Committee;
- Colonel of the tax police (1995);
- Hero of the Russian Federation (1997);
- Was recognized twice as the best athlete in Russia;
- In September 1997, he was recognized as man of the year in Novosibirsk;
- Order of Honor (2001);
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (2008);
- Certificate of Honor from the President of the Russian Federation (2013);
- Honorary resident of the city of Novosibirsk. Has the insignia “For Services to the Novosibirsk Region”;
- In 2013, in honor of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of A.I. Pokryshkin, he was awarded the Pokryshkin medal;
- Medal “Participant of the military operation in Syria” (2016);
- Order of Merit for the Republic of Dagestan (September 13, 2017) - for services in the development of wrestling;
- “Golden Belt” best wrestler planets (1989, 1990, 1992, 1994) (FILA);
- Alexander Karelin was named the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of the 20th century by the International Amateur Wrestling Federation;
- Order of St. Sava, 2nd degree (Serbian Orthodox Church, February 9, 2013);
- Knight of the Olympic Order (2001) (IOC);
- “The Golden Bough” (2002) (FILA);
- “Member of the FILA Hall of Fame.”
Three-time Olympic champion Alexander Karelin officially recognized by the International Federation struggle best wrestler Greco-Roman 20th century style.
For me, only one place matters - the first one,” Karelin once said. - And the second or tenth - it doesn’t matter. This is a defeat.
“The only thing I confess I regretted,” says the champion’s coach Kuznetsov, “is that Karelin never, in my memory, used all his power in fights. I used to ask him: “Sasha, make a “reverse belt” for me personally.” This is his signature and my favorite move: when you throw your opponent over your back onto the mat from the height of your own height. And he always felt sorry for those who fight with him. After all, a throw is always humiliation for a partner.”
Karelin was born on September 19, 1967 near Novosibirsk. His father worked as a dump truck driver, his mother was an employee. Both are of large build. Sasha was born weighing five kilograms! Since childhood, tall beyond his years, he hunted, dashingly skied, and went swimming. But he took up wrestling only at the age of thirteen, when he was head and shoulders taller than his father. And it’s not a fact yet - Karelin would have become a wrestler if it weren’t for the first and only coach - Viktor Kuznetsov. At the age of fifteen, Sasha suffered a broken leg at a youth competition. But it was after this serious injury that he made the final choice in favor of classical wrestling.
In 1986, Karelin suffered his first defeat, losing to world champion Igor Rastorotsky - 0:1. Until 2000, it remained the only one. A year later, Alexander becomes the world champion among juniors and joins the main national team.
“I first saw Karelin in Moscow, at a training camp in Olympic Village two years before the Games in Seoul, recalls Seoul Olympic champion Mikhail Mamiashvili. - The guys and I were sitting in the dining room and talking when he came in and stopped at the door. He looked big, awkward and very young. And he clearly didn’t know what to do with his own hands. But I was shocked by something else - the Karelian look. It was the look of a man who knows absolutely exactly what he wants. At that time, Karelin was just approaching the adult national team. But already in Olympic year It was clear to me that he had come to the team for a long time.”
There were not so many supporters of Karelin competing as a heavyweight at the Games in Seoul. Then he rightfully claimed the main role in the team two-time champion peace Igor Rastorotsky. But qualifying championship USSR Rastorotsky lost. However, he was given a chance: the question of who exactly would go to Seoul was to be decided in a specially organized tournament.
Perhaps it was then that Karelin himself understood and formulated for himself the basic truth: “Life gives everyone a chance. It’s important that you yourself are prepared for this.” Karelin won the last qualifying fight with Rastorotsky.
And in Seoul, when the inevitable question arose within the team about who would carry the team banner at the opening ceremony of the Games, Mamiashvili proposed the candidacy of a debutant. That was a definite risk. It has long been the custom to entrust the banner to those whose victory at the Games did not raise the slightest doubt among others.
Mamiashvili, the then captain of the wrestling team, explained why he named Karelin: “When Sasha fought with Rastorotsky - that very decisive fight - few knew that his hand was seriously injured - a bone was cracked. I saw him struggle. And I realized that if to win in Seoul you need to die on the mat, Karelin will die, but will not lose.”
In Seoul, in the final, Alexander still lost one point to the Pole Grabovsky in thirty seconds, but in the end he won.
Four years later in Barcelona, Karelin was again the standard-bearer, having also replaced Mamiashvili as team captain. True, the banner was different - white - of the United Team. However, paradoxically, our team has probably never been more united. For themselves they are still, albeit in last time, were one team.
In four out of five fights, Karelin won ahead of schedule: in one and a half minutes he sent Canadian Andrew Borodow to rest, and in just over two minutes he sent Cuban Rossel Mesa to rest. It took Romanian Ion Grigoras 15 seconds. In the final, the world champion, twenty-time champion of Sweden, Thomas Johansson, lasted no longer than the Canadian wrestler. And only Finn Juhu Ahokas Karelin won on points.
“When I stood on the pedestal,” Karelin recalled, “what I wanted most in my life was to hear the Soviet anthem. We grew up on it. And a new generation should grow up listening to new anthems.”
A year after the Games in Barcelona, Karelin became world champion for the fifth time in a row. And only after the team returned from Stockholm to Moscow, it became known that throughout the championship he had been struggling with a broken rib in the first fight.
That championship to some extent became historic for journalists. Longtime Karelin counterpart Johansson, who officially announced his retirement on the eve of the championship, for the first time managed to break the dry score of his fights with Karelin: in the penultimate fight, desperately trying to grab the Russian wrestler by the ribs, the Swede won back a point, which the next day became the reason for the appearance of an entire photo report in Stockholm newspapers . “Here it is, this moment!” Below it was: “And here’s what happened a little later.” 
It was better for the Swedes not to look at the rest of the pictures.
When Karelin was asked in Moscow why he did not withdraw from the competition due to injury, the answer was a blank look: “Withdraw? I'm the captain! This phrase had it all. And responsibility for your team, performing for the first time on the world stage under Russian flag, and pride in the five victories she had already won at the European Championships in Istanbul, and much more, including pity for Johansson, whose holiday he, Karelin, ruined. (“I really feel sorry for him. After all, if you look at it, it’s been me who has been spoiling the blood of a good guy for the last five years.”)
True, Karelin “compensated” for the Swede’s failure. During the championship in Finland, Alexander made happy a hefty, fit man holding a child’s hand. Karelin signed the man’s T-shirts and baseball caps as he said goodbye and patted the man on the shoulder. It was Johansson!
On March 28, 1996, in Budapest, in the semi-finals of his ninth European Championship, Karelin was injured again. In a duel with Belarusian wrestler Vasily Dibelko, his pectoralis major muscle was torn off. The injury could not even be numbed - the muscle tore off right under shoulder joint, and the risk of affecting the nerve endings was too great. Karelin categorically refused to withdraw from the tournament.
In addition to the usual captain’s arguments (“When you go out on the mat, fight”), there was one more: his wife Olga was watching Karelin from the stands. Then he will say: “It’s very hard to fight when they look at you like that.” And only after putting Olga on the plane did Karelin go to the hospital.
After the operation, which lasted almost three hours (only one and a half liters of blood were pumped out of the hematoma), leading Hungarian surgeon Istvan Berkes said that Karelin would be able to train fully in two months. There were just over three months left before the Games in Atlanta.
Karelin weighed the pros and cons of continuing to fight for a very long time. He asked that details of the operation not be published for at least a couple of months. And so that the scar is not too big. The surgeons who operated on Alexander, Berkes and Attila Pavlik, kept their word. And after the Games, congratulations were sent to Karelin from Hungary on behalf of all the hospital staff: they say, with such a scale of the gap, no one could even imagine that he would participate at all.
The final fight of the heavyweights at the 1996 Olympics was scary. Karelin's rival, Iranian-American Matt Ghaffari, was raging. The stands went wild: more than anything else, they actually dreamed of seeing an American in the final. The music was going wild under the vaults - from the famous “Rocky 4”. There was only one person in the hall who was absolutely calm and had no right to lose. Including because the banner Russian team on the opening day of the Games, he was the one who carried it.
When the fight ended with a score of 1:0, Karelin remained standing on the mat. And there was not even a shadow of a smile on his face.
He once came into wrestling desperately dreaming of becoming a world champion. And in Atlanta he said: “All the world championships taken together are not worth the Olympic Games.” 
After the Games in Atlanta, in an interview, the outstanding actor Yuri Nikulin, speaking about Karelin, remarked: “What I especially like as a former clown is that he has sad eyes.”
At the ceremony in the St. George's Hall of the Kremlin, when he was awarded the star of the Hero of Russia, Karelin, seeing Nikulin among those present, asked to be introduced to them and thanked him for the kind words.
“You don’t live that long in sports,” San Sanych once joked sadly to himself. - Why did I dream of performing in Atlanta? The guys on the team got it: they say that Belarus has its own three-time Olympic champion - Alexander Medved, but Russia does not. This is wrong. But in general, I believe that a person, be it an athlete or a coach, should have the right to leave. He fulfilled the contract and doesn’t owe anyone anything. It just doesn't work. Take Mamiashvili - he’s a terrible fanatic, the whole team relies on him. How will I leave him? And most importantly, there is simply no one to take my place yet.”
Karelin set a record - his goal was victory in Sydney 2000. Alexander carried out his last test at the European Championships in Moscow and, as always, won. The championship was interesting because Karelin acted as a “playing” deputy. In December 1999, he was elected to the Russian State Duma. Alexander Alexandrovich became a member of the State Duma Committee on Health and Sports.
Karelin's team name is shorter - San Sanych. Mamiashvili says:
I don’t even remember exactly when they started calling Karelin that way. I myself have been calling him by his first name and patronymic both to his face and behind his back for about six years. How else can we emphasize the degree of respect for him?
Until the final of his fourth Olympics, Alexander advanced as confidently as always. Many Russian fans, athletes, and officials gathered on September 27 in the wrestling hall, anticipating a new triumph for the Russian hero. Alas, Karelin did not win. The fate was decided by one point awarded by the judges to the American wrestler Gardner. According to many, it is unfair. Karelin did not look for excuses for poor refereeing: “I didn’t win. That means he lost. Well, the American grabbed me by the legs. So what? I've been hooked all my life. All this talk is in favor of the poor. It would be easier for me to lose to mine. Anyone, but not an American. Because I consider myself a representative of the strongest wrestling country in the world.”
In 2002, Karelin defended his dissertation for the scientific degree Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences at the Academy of Physical Culture named after. Lesgafta (St. Petersburg) on the topic “ Sports training highly qualified wrestlers."
Karelin still lives in Novosibirsk, being an honorary resident of the city. Together with his wife Olga, he is raising sons Denis and Ivan and daughter Vasilisa.
“I began to be at home less,” says Karelin. - Stopped training twice a day, five days a week. There are more opportunities for creativity. However, the responsibility has also increased.
One young man asked me recently: “What are your dreams?” - "About general prosperity." “It’s not interesting to be with you,” he summed up. And I really dream that people around me will be happy. And the further you go, the more relevant the dream becomes. I understand its special relevance and necessity. Everyone should be able to work and be paid adequately for their work. Adequate by civilized, not Russian standards. Now, if the level of wages in our country becomes the same as in highly developed countries, the level of crime and everything else that is bad will simply be insignificant. When this happens, prosperity will come.”
Alexander Alexandrovich Karelin(born September 19, 1967, Novosibirsk) - legendary Russian wrestler of the classical (Greco-Roman) style, statesman and political figure, deputy of the State Duma of the VI convocation from the United Russia party, member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1988), Hero of the Russian Federation (1997).
Three-time winner of the Olympic Games (1988, 1992, 1996, in the category up to 130 kg), nine-time world champion (1989-1991, 1993-1995, 1997-1999), 12-time European champion (1987-1991, 1993-1996, 1998 -2000), silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games, world junior champion in 1988, 13-time champion of the USSR, CIS and Russia (1988-2000). Cup Winner Absolute champion world" 1989. Four times awarded the "Golden Belt" as the best wrestler on the planet - in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994. Winner of the IV international tournament “For the prizes of Alexander Karelin” (1995). Five-time winner of the international tournament in memory of Ivan Poddubny. Twice he was recognized as the best athlete of Russia. Throughout his entire sports career, he won 887 fights and suffered two defeats. There are cases when opponents deliberately refused to fight Karelin.
Alexander Karelin at the age of 13 (his height was 178 cm, weight 78 kg) began to play sports in hometown Novosibirsk. In 1981, he enrolled in the classical wrestling section at the Electrotechnical Institute. Karelin’s first coach, Viktor Kuznetsov, remained his only mentor throughout sports life. In 1985, the first success came - Karelin became the world champion among youth.
In 1982, he took 3rd place in the Novosibirsk city championship among youths, in 1983 - 1st place in the city championship among youths. in 1984 - 1st place in the RSFSR championship among youths (born 1966-67). In 1985, Karelin won victories at the All-Union Junior Guards Memorial Tournament (born 1966-67), an international tournament in Belarus, the USSR Junior Championships (born 1965-66), and the World Junior Championships ( born 1965-67). This year I fulfilled the standard of an international master of sports.
In 1986, Karelin won the following competitions:
- USSR Championship among juniors.
- IV Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the RSFSR.
- International tournament in memory of Ivan Poddubny.
- Spartakiad of the peoples of the USSR.
- European Junior Championship (born 1966-67).
- RSFSR Championship.
Results in 1987:
- 2nd place at the USSR Championship, lost for the last time - to Igor Rostorotsky with a score of 0-1
- 1st place at the European Championships
- 1st place at the World Cup
- 1st place at the RSFSR Championship
Alexander Karelin served in the 61st brigade (Polar Bears) of the KSF Marine Corps. Marine attack aircraft. In 1988, despite a concussion and high temperature, Karelin became the USSR champion for the first time. For the first time he beat the leader of the USSR national team, world champion Igor Rostorotsky. The national team's coaches were not satisfied with these results and in July they arranged an additional selection between the wrestlers, which was won by 21-year-old Karelin.
In the finals of the Seoul Olympics, Karelin met with Bulgarian Rangel Gerovski. Alexander lost the first period 2:3, but in the end he won 15 seconds before the end of the fight with his favorite technique - the “reverse belt” throw - 4:3. In 1992, in the finals of the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Karelin clearly won against the Swedish wrestler Thomas Johansson. In 1993 at the World Championships, in the first fight with American wrestler Matt Ghaffari, Karelin was injured: he damaged two ribs on the right side. One - the bottom one - came off, the other - next to it - broke. 20 minutes after the fight with Gaffari, Karelin went to fight Johansson, who already knew about his injury. Karelin managed to pull him to the “reverse belt” three times and throw him, Karelin won with a score of 12:1. In the final he defeated Sergei Mureiko and again became the world champion. In 1994, at the World Championships, he defeated Hector Milan (Cuba), the Olympic champion in the 100 kg weight category, in the final. The culmination of the year was the “Match of the Century” in Greco-Roman wrestling between the world and Russian teams, held in the Moscow Druzhba gym. Karelin's fight with Hector Milan ended in 1 minute 29 seconds. The Russian team won with a total score of 9:1. In 1995, in the final of the World Championship, Karelin defeated Sergei Mureiko. In October 1995, the IV international tournament for the prizes of Alexander Karelin was held in Novosibirsk, Karelin himself took part in it. The culmination of the tournament was the duel between him and Matt Ghaffari, which Karelin won with a reverse belt with a score of 10:0. In March 1996, at the European Championships, in a fight with Dmitry Debelko, he was injured again - a separation of the pectoralis major muscle. Just like three years ago, I reached the final, literally fought with one hand and defeated Peter Kotka (Ukraine). In Atlanta he also dominated even with an unhealed serious injury. In 2 minutes he defeated the African champion Omran Ayari, then achieved “clean” victories over Juha Ahokas (Finland) and Panayotes Poikilidis (Greece). In the semi-finals he defeated Sergei Mureiko with a score of 2:0. The fight with him was difficult: acute pain caused “uncontrollability of the arm.” At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, in the final, Karelin again defeated Ghaffari with a score of 1:0. In the 1997 World Championships in the final, Karelin defeated Mihaly Dik-Bardos (Hungary) with his “reverse belt” with a score of 11-0. In 1998, at the World Championships in the final, Karelin again defeated Ghaffari by touch. In the 1999 World Championships, Karelin defeated Hector Milan in the final with a score of 3-0. In 2000, at the European Championships in the final, Karelin defeated Sergei Mureiko with a score of 2:0.
In 2000, at the Sydney Olympics, in the first fight, Karelin faced one of the strongest opponents - Sergei Mureiko (Bulgaria). Karelin won this fight with a score of 3:0. In the second fight, Karelin defeated the strong Mihaly Dik-Bardos (Hungary) by touch. Dmitry Debelko (Belarus) won in the semi-finals. In the final he met with American wrestler Rulon Gardner. After the first period, the score was 0:0, according to the rules in force at that time, after the break the athletes were placed in a cross hold, the referee considered that Karelin was the first to unclench his hands, which was a violation of the rules, Gardner was awarded the winning point. As a result, the American wrestler won with a score of 1:0, and Karelin lost his first match in 13 years and received a silver award on September 27, 2000. After the Games in Sydney, Alexander Karelin ended his sports career.
Meeting against Maeda
In 1999, Alexander Karelin received an offer to fight according to the rules of mixed martial arts with the invincible fighter from Japan Akira Maeda. The prize fund was $1,000,000. The fight took place on February 22, 1999 in Tokyo. In accordance with the Olympic Charter, Karelin did not have the right to participate in commercial fights, so the fight was held without remuneration. Karelin won this fight using his famous “reverse belt”, since, according to the rules of the fight, he was supposed to use only Greco-Roman wrestling techniques.
Results at major competitions in 1987-2000
| Year | Olympic games |
Championship peace |
Championship Europe |
Championship USSR / Russia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1988 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1993 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1995 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1996 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1997 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1998 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1999 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2000 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Merits
Three-time Olympic champion in the category up to 130 kg (1988, 1992, 1996), nine-time world champion (1989-1991, 1993-1995, 1997-1999), twelve-time European champion, silver medalist of the 2000 Olympic Games, world junior champion 1988 , 14-time champion of the USSR, CIS and Russia (1988-2001). He was the standard-bearer of the national team at the opening of three Olympic Games: 1988 - USSR, 1992 - CIS, 1996 - Russia. Twice he was recognized as the best athlete of Russia.
Alexander Karelin was named the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of the 20th century by the International Amateur Wrestling Federation (FILA).
Winner of the Fair Play movement prize for fair play in sports, founded by the Russian Olympic Committee, laureate of the title “Siberian of the Year”, established by Novaya Sibirskaya Gazeta (1993 and 1995).
Knight of the Olympic Order "Golden Palm" (2001).
Participated in the procedure of bringing it to the stadium Olympic flame at the opening of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi on February 7, 2014
Since 1992, wrestling tournaments for Karelin prizes have been held in Russia.
Olympic champion Aslanbek Khushtov admitted that he adopted his signature technique “reverse belt” from Karelin.
Work and social activities
Alexander Karelin graduated from the Novosibirsk Motor Transport College, then from the Omsk Institute of Physical Culture. Since 1995, Alexander Karelin has been an employee of the Russian tax police. Rank: Tax Police Colonel.
Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011). He was a member of the Duma Committee on Health and Sports, a member of the Commission on Geopolitics. Since December 2007 - member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.
Since 2001, Alexander Karelin has been a member of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party.
Hero of the Russian Federation (1997), awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1989), Honor (2001), “For Services to the Fatherland” IV degree (2008), Certificate of Honor of the President of the Russian Federation (2013).
Candidate (1998), Doctor (2002) of Pedagogical Sciences. Theses are devoted to sports topics.
Honorary resident of the city of Novosibirsk.
Family
Alexander Karelin dedicated all his victories to his wife Olga. His family has three children: sons Denis and Ivan, daughter Vasilisa. Son Ivan is engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling, daughter Vasilisa is engaged in rhythmic gymnastics. Alexander Karelin’s parents lived in Sedovaya Zaimka for a long time.
Information about income and property
According to official data, Karelin’s income for 2011 amounted to 3.1 million rubles. Karelin and his wife own two land plots with a total area of 15 thousand square meters, a residential building with an area of more than a thousand square meters, 7 cars and 3 motorcycles.
Alexander Alexandrovich Karelin is an outstanding Russian wrestler, three-time winner of the Olympic Games, State Duma deputy, Hero of Russia.The legendary athlete had unique physical characteristics and an unbending character. He was awarded the Golden Belt prize in martial arts four times, won the tournament in memory of Alexander Poddubny 5 times, and was the winner of the Absolute World Champion Cup. During his life in sports, he suffered only 2 defeats, but had 887 victorious battles on the mat.
Childhood and youth of Alexander Karelin
The future super champion was born in Novosibirsk on September 19, 1967 and weighed five and a half kilograms. His father, Alexander Ivanovich, a dump truck driver, an amateur boxer, and his mother, Zinaida Ivanovna, an employee, were of large build. Since childhood, their son was tall and tall, beyond his years. 
He was captivated by sports at about the age of 13; even then he was head and shoulders taller than his father. Viktor Kuznetsov, who later became his permanent coach, saw Sasha and his friends on the street and suggested they go to the hall of the Burevestnik sports society. The professional apparently appreciated the teenager’s potential - his height was then 178 centimeters and his weight was 78 kilograms.
The parents were not too pleased with their son’s hobby, which was dangerous for injuries. It is known that when, at the age of 15, on March 8, during the regional championship, he broke his leg, his mother even burned his uniform and forbade him to attend training. But he continued his studies, although subsequently he broke both his ribs and his arms more than once.
At the age of 17 he achieved the title of Master of Sports of the USSR, at 18 - world champion among youth, master of sports of international class.
In 1985, the young man graduated from a motor transport technical school in his hometown, served in the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and entered the Omsk Institute of Physical Education. The following year he was included in the national team.
Sports career of Alexander Karelin
In 1987, the wrestler became the first at the European Championship, and subsequently he won the title of European champion 11 more times, and suffered his first defeat, losing to Igor Rostotsky in the final of the USSR Championship. But he won the next fight with this high-class wrestler, despite the fact that he was injured before the start of the fight. 
In 1988, he participated in the Olympic Games for the first time and immediately became a winner. His weight then was 112 kilograms. Losing to the Bulgarian athlete Rangel Gerovski after the first period, he nevertheless snatched victory literally 15 seconds before the end of the fight, using a special “reverse belt” technique, which none of the wrestlers competing in the heavyweight division could repeat.
The 1992 Olympics, held in Barcelona, Spain, brought Russian athlete another "gold". In the final exciting fight, he defeated Thomas Johansson, a multiple Swedish champion, within 2 minutes.
Alexander Karelin - three-time Olympic champion
The wrestler brought home the third highest Olympic award four years later from Atlanta, America, defeating local athlete Matt Ghaffari in a match.
In the period 1989-1999. Alexander became first at the World Championships 9 times. At the beginning of 1999, he fought in a fight according to the rules of mixed martial arts for the only time in his entire sports life. With the help of his signature throw, he was able to defeat the Japanese wrestler Akira Maeda in this fight.
Alexander Karelin. Best moments
At the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia in 2000, our outstanding wrestler took silver, losing for the second time in his career to the American Rulon Gardner. At the end of the Olympics, the “Russian terminator,” as he was called in the media, announced the end of his sports career.
Alexander Karelin in politics
Since 1995, the athlete has worked in law enforcement agencies in the tax police service. He also managed, in parallel with his performances, to graduate from the Higher School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in his hometown. In 1998, at the Academy of Physical Education of the Northern capital, he defended his PhD thesis on the topic of methods of fighting. 
In the fall of 1999, the titled wrestler became one of the leaders of the political movement “Unity” (unofficially, “Bear”). In December, he became a State Duma deputy, and was subsequently elected to the highest legislative body 3 more times.
Since 2001, the athlete graduated from the Faculty of Law of the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was elected a member of the Supreme Council of the United Russia party. In 2002, he defended his doctoral dissertation, also devoting it to a topic close to him, sports.
Personal life of Alexander Karelin
Karelin is married. All yours sporting achievements he dedicated it to his wife Olga, who gave him three children - two sons, Denis and Vanya, and daughter Vasilisa. Ivan followed in his father's footsteps and is interested in Greco-Roman wrestling. The daughter became a gymnast. Denis is the general director of the Goodman steakhouse. 
The living legend of Russian sports and politician noted in an interview that for him an example of how to serve the country is Pyotr Stolypin. He keeps his quotation book in his Duma office.
Karelin considers Ivan Yarygin and Alexander Medved to be the best wrestlers in history.
The legendary wrestler loves hunting and cars. In 2011, he owned 7 cars and 3 motorcycles.
Alexander Karelin today
The titled athlete took part in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.In October 2015, he participated in the international forum “Olympics-80: 35 years later”, held in his hometown, Novosibirsk. The athletes present at it, led by Karelin, adopted an appeal to the participants of the First World Olympians Forum, where the importance of the postulates of sport was especially emphasized, especially the slogan “Oh, sport, you are the world!”
The mentioned forum took place in Moscow with the participation of the head of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, Russian President Vladimir Putin, other officials and forty Olympic athletes.
The illustrious veteran, whose name is firmly entrenched in the history of world sports, has many state awards, officially became one of the world's 25 best sports stars of the 20th century (along with such outstanding athletes as American professional boxer Muhammad Ali, Brazilian footballer Pele, Soviet gymnast, 9-fold Olympic champion Larisa Latynina).
