Person attributes
Childhood and youth
The real Russian hero Alexander Karelin was born in Novosibirsk in 1967. At birth, the boy weighed 5.5 kg, and at the age of 13 he was a head taller than his own father. Dad Alexander Ivanovich Karelin, an amateur boxer, has worked as a driver all his life, and mom Zinaida Ivanovna is a civil servant.A sharp turn in the biography of the future star of domestic sports occurred when a young man approached the boys playing on the street of Novosibirsk. This man, who later became Karelin's only coach, noticed a strong, tall guy (at the age of 13, Sasha was 178 cm tall and weighed 78 kg) and invited him to the gym.From that day on, Alexander's life changed. Not a day passed without training, and there were no injuries. So, at the age of 15, he broke his leg. It happened on the eve of the holiday on March 8, and the athlete's upset mother burned Sasha's uniform in her hearts and forbade her to engage in wrestling. But Karelin could no longer give up his fate.
At the age of 17, the athlete received the title of master of sports, and a year later - the title of world youth champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. In the 8th grade Karelin left school and entered a technical school. After that, the young man became a cadet at the school of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then a student at the Omsk Institute of Physical Education.
Fighting
In 1986, the young athlete-athlete was enrolled in the USSR national team. In this capacity, the athlete won the championship of the Republic, Europe and the world. After the USSR Championship in 1988, Karelin participated in the Olympic Games as part of the national team and won another championship title. Alexander lost the first round of the final to Bulgarian Rangel Gerovsky, but in the second he managed to snatch victory by applying the crown technique "reverse belt". This technique brought Karelin victory at the World Championship in 1990, and then at the 1991 tournament.
In 1992, Alexander Karelin defeated the Swedish twenty-time champion Thomas Johansson at the Olympic Games. A year later, in a fight with Matt Gaffari, the athlete injured 2 ribs, but managed to survive in this and subsequent fights with Johansson and Bulgarian Sergey Mureiko, confirming the title of world champion. By this time, the athlete's weight was 112 kg, height - 191 cm.Alexander Karelin's triumphant string of victories continued until 2000, when the Olympic Games were held in Sydney. The athlete worked hard, professional injuries, broken ribs in his career are countless. Once he managed to recover in a matter of weeks after surgery (Karelin's pectoral muscle came off) with the help of his constant trainer, although doctors predicted that rehabilitation would take at least 9 months.At the Sydney Olympics Karelin suffered a second defeat – in a fight with Rulon Gardner. Nobody managed to put the "Russian terminator", as Alexander Karelin was called in foreign media, on the shoulder blades, as evidenced not only by the numerous titles and awards of the fighter, but also by photo and video reports. The athlete returned home for the first time not with a gold, but a silver medal and immediately announced his retirement.Interestingly, back in those years, Russian athletes vaguely imagined what an advertising contract was, so they went out to fight in the equipment that was available. Alexander preferred wrestlers of the Japanese company Tiger, which he had previously exchanged from a Bulgarian athlete for tights. Since Adidas was the sponsor in Sydney, Karelin had to carefully cut off all the logos from his shoes and seal the name with adhesive tape on the sole.
Mixed style
In 1999, Alexander Karelin received an offer to fight according to the rules of mixed martial arts with a fighter from Japan Akira Maeda. The 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 had no right to participate in commercial fights, so the fight was held without remuneration[11]. Both Karelin and Maeda could use mixed martial arts techniques, however, being in the ring without gloves, they could not strike with their fists. Karelin said before the fight that it would be enough for him to "fight according to his own rules." Alexander Karelin won this fight on points: tired Maeda needed help to walk after the fight
Personal life
Karelin decided on his personal life in his youth. His only life partner was a girl named Olga. The future spouses met at a transport stop. As the athlete joked later, it was a bright summer evening, so the girl was not afraid of his intimidating appearance. Olga Karelina is an accountant by education, later she became the owner of the Donna branded clothing store in Novosibirsk. The athlete 's family has three children: Denis, Ivan and Vasilisa.Behind a somewhat gloomy and intimidating appearance hides an intellectual who is seriously fascinated by Dostoevsky, American and English literature and the activities of Pyotr Stolypin.
Alexander Alexandrovich loves cars, he has about seven of them. Karelin prefers Mercedes for everyday travel around the city. And he calls the Volga of 1963 the most unusual car in his fleet. Also in the collection of the State Duma deputy there are two ATVs and one Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Achievements
1984 - Master of Sports of the USSR
1988 - Honored Master of Sports of the USSR
1997 - Hero of the Russian Federation
1989, 1990, 1992, 1994 - winner of the "Golden Belt" as the best wrestler of the planet
2001 - Knight of the Order of Honor
2001 - Holder of the Olympic Order
2002 - "Golden Branch"
2008 - "For Services to the Fatherland" IV degree
2013 - Certificate of Honor of the President of the Russian Federation
2016 - Order "For Services to the Republic of Dagestan"
He is listed 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 of Greco-Roman style.
Nine-time world champion up to 130 kg of Greco-Roman style.
Twelve-time European champion up to 130 kg of Greco-Roman style.
Thirteen-time champion of the USSR, CIS and Russia up to 130 kg of Greco-Roman style.
He has won 888 fights in his entire sports career
Three times he was the flag bearer of the national team at the opening of three Olympic Games in 1988 - USSR, 1992 - CIS, 1996 - Russia
He was the first at the age of 21 to become the youngest Olympic champion up to 130 kg of Greco-Roman style.
In 1986, he took part in fourteen tournaments and all tournaments were won.
