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Aleksandr Karelin

Full name: Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Karelin
Original name: Александр Карелин
Gender: Male
Height: 6'4" (193 cm)
Weight: 218 lbs (99 kg)
Born: September 19, 1967 in Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk, Russia
Affiliations: Dynamo, Novosibirsk
Country: URS Soviet Union, EUN Unified Team, RUS Russia
Sport: Wrestling

Medals: 3 Gold, 1 Silver (4 Total)

Biography

Aleksandr Karelin is one of only four men to have won three Olympic gold medals in wrestling (the others being Ivar Johansson SWE, Aleksandr Medved [URS/UKR], and [Carl Westergren] [SWE]). A frighteningly strong man, he won his first gold medal in 1988 in the super-heavyweight Græco-Roman event, competing for the Soviet Union. He defended that title in 1992, competing for the Unified Team, and 1996, competing for Russia. He was also World Champion in the same class eight times – 1989-91, 1993-95, and 1998. His 11 championships in the Olympic and World events are the most ever, breaking the mark held by Medved. Karelin was favored to win his fourth consecutive gold medal at Sydney, but in a major upset, he lost in the final, 1-0, to unheralded American, Rulon Gardner. He was elected member of the Russian parliament (Duma) in 1999.

Results

Glossary / CSV / PRE / Click column headers to sort
Games Age City Sport Event Team NOC Finish Medal
1988 Summer 20 Seoul Wrestling Men's Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman Soviet Union URS 1 Gold
1992 Summer 24 Barcelona Wrestling Men's Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman Unified Team EUN 1 Gold
1996 Summer 28 Atlanta Wrestling Men's Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman Russia RUS 1 Gold
2000 Summer 32 Sydney Wrestling Men's Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman Russia RUS 2 Silver

Men's Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman

Glossary / Event History / CSV / PRE
Games Age City Team Phase Unit Date Result
1988 Summer 20 Seoul Soviet Union Final Round Match 1/2 1988-09-21 Karelin (URS) decision (5-3), Gerovski (BUL)
1988 Summer 20 Seoul Soviet Union Group A - Round Four Match #2 1988-09-21 Karelin (URS) decision (15-0) (2:23), Koslowski (USA)
1988 Summer 20 Seoul Soviet Union Group A - Round Three Match #2 1988-09-21 Karelin (URS) fall (4:10), Neumüller (AUT)
1988 Summer 20 Seoul Soviet Union Group A - Round Two Match #3 1988-09-20 Karelin (URS) passivity (4:43), Klauz (HUN)
1988 Summer 20 Seoul Soviet Union Group A - Round One Match #4 1988-09-20 Karelin (URS) passivity (4:00), Johansson (SWE)
1992 Summer 24 Barcelona Unified Team Final Round Match 1/2 1992-07-29 Karelin (EUN) fall (1:33), Johansson (SWE)
1992 Summer 24 Barcelona Unified Team Group A - Round Five Match #1 1992-07-28 Karelin (EUN) fall (0:14), Grigoraş (ROU)
1992 Summer 24 Barcelona Unified Team Group A - Round Four Match #2 1992-07-28 Karelin (EUN)
1992 Summer 24 Barcelona Unified Team Group A - Round Three Match #2 1992-07-27 Karelin (EUN) decision (8-1), Ahokas (FIN)
1992 Summer 24 Barcelona Unified Team Group A - Round Two Match #2 1992-07-27 Karelin (EUN) fall (2:15), Mesa (CUB)
1992 Summer 24 Barcelona Unified Team Group A - Round One Match #1 1992-07-27 Karelin (EUN) fall (1:30), Borodow (CAN)
1996 Summer 28 Atlanta Russia Final Round Match 1/2 1996-07-22 Karelin (RUS) decision (1-0) (8:00), Ghaffari (USA)
1996 Summer 28 Atlanta Russia Semi-Finals Match #1 1996-07-22 Karelin (RUS) fall (8-0) (2:59), Poikilidis (GRE)
1996 Summer 28 Atlanta Russia Quarter-Finals Match #1 1996-07-22 Karelin (RUS) fall (4-0) (3:28), Ahokas (FIN)
1996 Summer 28 Atlanta Russia Round Two Match #2 1996-07-21 Karelin (RUS) decision (2-0) (8:00), Mureico (MDA)
1996 Summer 28 Atlanta Russia Round One Match #2 1996-07-21 Karelin (RUS) grand superiority (10-0) (1:49), Ayari (TUN)
2000 Summer 32 Sydney Russia Final Round Match 1/2 2000-09-27 Gardner (USA) decision (1-0) (9:00), Karelin (RUS)
2000 Summer 32 Sydney Russia Semi-finals Match #1 2000-09-27 Karelin (RUS) decision (3-0) (6:00), Debelka (BLR)
2000 Summer 32 Sydney Russia Quarter-finals Match #2 2000-09-27 Karelin (RUS) decision (4-0) (6:00), Soldadze (UKR)
2000 Summer 32 Sydney Russia Round One Pool Four Match #1 0000-00-00 Karelin (RUS) fall (3-0) (1:48), Deák-Bárdos (HUN)
2000 Summer 32 Sydney Russia Round One Pool Four Match #2 0000-00-00 Karelin (RUS) decision (3-0) (6:00), Mureico (BUL)