Aleksandr Karelin: The 'Russian Bear' of Olympic wrestling

Aleksandr Karelin is known as one of the best wrestlers of all time, with 887 wins and 2 losses in his career. Let's take a look at the extraordinary life and career of 'The Russian Bear'.

Aleksandr Karelin was born on September 19, 1967 in Novosibirsk, Siberia. According to the Olympics website, the Russian baby weighed seven kilos (15 lbs), which is double the average for a boy that age.

He just kept growing! At 13 years old, he weighed 79kg standing at 1.78m (174 lbs - 5.8ft), according to Le Monde. He was already bigger than his father and heavier than your average adult. At 19 years old, he measured 1.91m and weighed 129 kg (284 lbs) of pure muscle.

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Karelin has always been passionate about sports. The Russian athlete enjoyed swimming while practicing other forms of martial arts.

According to La Sueur, many scouts and coaches across different disciplines were trying to convince him to join their clubs. Nevertheless, Karelin simply did sports for the joy of it. His vocation was  clear: he wanted to become a truck driver, like his father.

Aleksandr Karelin's life changed at the age of 13, when renowned wrestling coach Victor Kusnetzov saw the teenager's potential and convinced him to try Greco-Roman wrestling.

At 17, he obtained, according to La Sueur, the title of master of sports in the USSR, and, at 18, he won his first junior world championship. He turned professional in 1987, at the age of 20.

The moment Aleksandr Karelin became a professional, he began dominating the wrestling scene. From 1987 to 2000, the Russian won all his fights. In 13 years, he became a 12-time European champion, a nine-time world champion, and won three Olympic Games.

Over the last six years, from 1994 to 2000, he did not concede a single point to his opponents in an official competition. He was simply untouchable!

In 1993, he won the world championships with two broken ribs, and in 1996, won the gold medal at the European championships with a torn pectoral muscle, according to La Sueur. The Russian overpowered was mentally superior and never gave up.

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In 2000, Karelin faced American Rulon Gardner in the final, and the Russian suffered a historic defeat after he was penalized for releasing his grip. The Russian wrestler lost his first fight in his professional career.

A fight that still haunts hit to this day, "I have never moved one. However, I cannot be hostage to what happened... Life goes on," shared Karelin to a reporter.

But why is Aleksandr Karelin so strong? First of all, thanks to his rigor, his discipline, and his physique, he was the strongest in his category (- 130 kg). He was also excellent tactically, perfect technically, and knew how to manage his strong opponents. But one of his strengths was his ultimate weapon: the reverse body lift.

This technique is only used among light weights (- 70 kg) and consists of grabbing your opponent at the waist when he is lying on the ground, lifting him and throwing him, making him fall on the back of the neck. This devastating move is only performed among lightweights because no one can lift a 130 kg human... except Karelin!

Indeed, the Russian was the only one, with his inhuman strength, to succeed in this technique. Some of his opponents were so scared that they gave up before it happened to them.

Jeff Blatnick, Olympic champion in 1984, said: "I tried everything humanly possible to stop him from lifting me off the wrestling mat. I weighed 300 pounds. I was perfectly trained. I was scared, I was even terrified. I don't particularly like flying through the air like that. I couldn't stop thinking, 'don't get hurt - don't get hurt,'"according to La Sueur.

The key to success? Well, let's ask Aleksandr Karelin himself: "What differentiates me from others? I train every day of my life like they will never train in only one of theirs."

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