Alexander Tikhonov, whose biography is presented in this article? - The legendary Soviet biathlete, four-time winner of the Olympic Games, multiple triumph and medalist of world championships in various disciplines.
Biography
Tikhonov Alexander Ivanovich was born in the village of Uysky (Chelyabinsk Region) in January 1947. His parents loved skiing, so the boy spent a lot of time on snow slopes since childhood.
The first achievement for the future Soviet sports star came in the fifth grade, when Tikhonov won the cross-country skiing competition for the Pioneer Truth prize.
After school, Tikhonov graduated from a vocational school in Chelyabinsk, and then - a college of physical education, after which he was drafted into the army. All this time he trained hard, skiing even at night after a hard day. During military service, he won the junior championship of the Soviet Union, which guaranteed him to be in the national team of skiers representing the USSR at international competitions.
Sports career
Contrary to all expectations, the famous skier from Tikhonov Alexander - the champion of many junior competitions - did not work. The reason for this was a foot injury in 1966. During the restoration, he was offered to shoot from a biathlon rifle. Alexander calmly hit all targets without a single miss. Then it was decided to move to biathlon.
The first serious test for a 20-year-old athlete was the 1977 World Cup in Altenberg. Here, Alexander Tikhonov, taking second place in the relay team of the USSR, became the first winner of the world championship.
The following season brought the first “gold" to the biathlete. At the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, Alexander first became the second in the individual race, and then he celebrated the victory in the relay.
The next three years became for Tikhonov Alexander “golden” in the literal sense of the word. At the world championships in Zakopane and Östersund, he became the unchanging winner in the individual and relay races, and only at the world championship in 1971 in the individual discipline did Diter Speer from the GDR pass ahead.
At the Olympics in Japan, Sapporo Tikhonov broke his ski and rode on one leg for almost a kilometer. But even so, he worthily ran his stage, and the USSR team again won gold awards.
During the next inter-Olympic period, the Soviet biathlete continued to collect awards and titles. From 1973 to 1975, he four times became the world champion in various disciplines. In excellent athletic form, he went to the Olympics in Innsbruck, where he won his third “gold” in the relay. In the individual race, he went almost the entire distance first with a big gap, however, three annoying misses and six penalty minutes left him with no chance of another medal.
Despite a rather impressive age and given good performance, the Soviet biathlon leadership decided to take Tikhonov to the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Games. At the opening ceremony, he was assigned to carry the flag of the USSR.
Biathlete Alexander Tikhonov once again proved that he can be trusted. In an intense fight with young rivals, the athlete again helped his team to take the first step of the Olympic podium.
Life after sports
After the Olympics-80, Alexander Tikhonov’s sports career ended. He began coaching first in the youth, and then in the experimental biathlon team of the USSR.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tikhonov creates the Tikhonov & K company, which is engaged in baking bread. His other company produced meat and fish products.
From 1996 to 2008 Alexander Ivanovich served as president of the Biathlon Union of the Russian Federation.
