1. Aleksandr Karelin won gold medals at the 1988,1992, and 1996 Olympic Games under a different flag each time, and a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games.
49 Facts About Aleksandr Karelin
1. 2.
Aleksandr Karelin's wrestling record at the senior level was 887 wins and two losses, both considered controversial and both by a single point.
3.
Aleksandr Karelin went undefeated in the World Championships, having never lost a match, winning nine gold medals.
4.
Aleksandr Karelin was the national flag bearer at three consecutive Olympics: in 1988 for the Soviet Union, in 1992 for the Unified Team, and in 1996 for Russia.
5.
Aleksandr Karelin was named a Hero of the Russian Federation in 1996.
6.
Aleksandr Karelin entered politics in 1999, being elected a deputy of the State Duma that year.
7.
Aleksandr Karelin sat in the Duma through various convocations until 2020, when he entered the Federation Council as a senator.
8.
Aleksandr Karelin was an avid fan of literature and mathematics during his school years.
9.
Aleksandr Karelin began training in 1981, under Viktor Kuznetsov, who remained his coach through his entire career.
10.
Aleksandr Karelin initially started boxing, following in the footsteps of his father, until he decided against it.
11.
Aleksandr Karelin tried weightlifting, volleyball, basketball, skiing and swimming, excelling in all the sports he tried.
12.
Aleksandr Karelin won gold at Friendship-84 in Greco-Roman wrestling as a junior.
13.
Aleksandr Karelin would go on to become a 13-time champion of the USSR, CIS, and Russia from 1988 to 2000, which were considered just as hard to win as the European Championships, and arguably higher in level than the World Championships.
14.
Aleksandr Karelin is listed as runner-up to David Koplovitz at the 1992 Wrestling World Cup, for while he won all of his matches at the event, his partner Andrey Grishin competed in the rest of the rounds, and so they did not accumulate enough ranking points to beat the American team.
15.
At the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Aleksandr Karelin won one of the fastest Olympic wrestling matches, pinning Ioan Grigoras in only 14 seconds.
16.
At the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Aleksandr Karelin faced American Matt Ghaffari for the gold medal.
17.
Some argue, such as Finnish former wrestler Tuomo Karila, that Gardner should not have been awarded the point, and that Aleksandr Karelin should have won.
18.
Aleksandr Karelin holds the record for most world-level gold medals at 12, the most for either freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestling in men's competitions, and holds the joint-record for most medals at the world-level, with 13, which is tied with the American wrestler Bruce Baumgartner.
19.
Aleksandr Karelin was revered for his extraordinary strength and unprecedented success in international competition.
20.
Aleksandr Karelin's coach was at first skeptical about a big but undeveloped boy, yet he accepted Karelin and motivated him for hard training, both in wrestling technique and physical strength.
21.
Aleksandr Karelin favored the overhead press and used standard 2-pood kettlebells for arm exercises at a daily weight routine.
22.
Aleksandr Karelin took part in a strongman competition, that being the 1991 European Hercules, and without prior preparation, he managed to place 8th.
23.
At the age of 15, Aleksandr Karelin broke his leg while training; having learned about this accident, his mother burned his wrestling uniform and forbade him to wrestle.
24.
At the 1988 USSR Championships, Aleksandr Karelin won and defeated Igor Rostorotsky in a rematch, despite suffering from a concussion and high temperature.
25.
Aleksandr Karelin won the 1993 World Championships despite breaking two ribs in the opening bout against Matt Ghaffari.
26.
Aleksandr Karelin won the Championships, but he had to be urgently operated on in Budapest.
27.
Aleksandr Karelin has avoided multiple ear cartilage injuries of both ears, unlike many wrestlers.
28.
On 21 February 1999, Aleksandr Karelin defeated Akira Maeda in a shoot wrestling contest put on by RINGS that drew a gate of over $1 million.
29.
Between 1995 and 1999, Aleksandr Karelin served with the Russian tax police and retired in the rank of colonel.
30.
Aleksandr Karelin joined the United Russia party and was elected to the State Duma as a representative of Novosibirsk Oblast in 1999 and 2003.
31.
Aleksandr Karelin was a member of Duma's committee on international affairs.
32.
In 2020, Aleksandr Karelin was appointed as senator from the Legislative Assembly of Novosibirsk Oblast in the Federation Council.
33.
Aleksandr Karelin took up the post on 25 September 2020, and is a member of the council's committee on International Affairs.
34.
Aleksandr Karelin was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in 2022 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.
35.
Aleksandr Karelin graduated from the Novosibirsk Institute of Transportation in 1985, followed by the Siberian Academy of Physical Culture, a military school of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Saint Petersburg University of MVD USSR.
36.
Aleksandr Karelin's PhD is titled: "Methods of execution of suplex throw counters", and "Integral training system for top-level wrestlers".
37.
Aleksandr Karelin's father was a truck driver and an amateur boxer.
38.
Aleksandr Karelin is married to Olga, they have two sons, Denis and Ivan, and one daughter, Vasilisa.
39.
From 1986 to 1991, Aleksandr Karelin served as a sports instructor of the 2nd category for the West Siberian Directorate, then sports instructor of the highest qualification from 1991 to 1992, and then coach of the sports team from 1992 to 1995.
40.
Aleksandr Karelin was named as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of the 20th century by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, and is one of the class of ten inaugural inductees into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003.
41.
Aleksandr Karelin was included in the 25 best world athletes of the 20th century.
42.
Aleksandr Karelin is cited as being one of the most dominant athletes of all time, and as being one of the greatest of all time.
43.
Aleksandr Karelin is remembered as being one of the most feared and intimidating athletes ever.
44.
Aleksandr Karelin is seen as one of the most gifted athletes of all time due to his combination of explosiveness, strength, intellect, flexibility, and agility.
45.
Aleksandr Karelin has been praised as one of the greatest wrestlers ever by, or usually as the single greatest ever, by other combat athletes like Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Alexander Romanov, Mark Madsen, Juha Ahokas, and even by Rulon Gardner himself.
46.
Aleksandr Karelin was named a Hero of the Russian Federation in 1996 and awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, Order of Honour and Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV class.
47.
Aleksandr Karelin was awarded the Serbian Order of Saint Sava.
48.
Aleksandr Karelin was named a Merited Master of Sports of the USSR.
49.
Aleksandr Karelin is a hidden playable character in the Japan-only, AKI Corporation-created, Nintendo 64 video game: Virtual Pro Wrestling 2.