Alexander Karelin

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Men's Greco-Roman wrestling
Olympic medalist
Alexander Karelin
Medal record
Gold	1988 Seoul	Super heavyweight
Gold	1992 Barcelona	Super heavyweight
Gold	1996 Atlanta	Super heavyweight
Silver	2000 Sydney	97 - 130 kg

Alexandr Alexandrovich Karelin, or simply Alexander Karelin, (Russian: Александр Александрович Карелин; born September 19, 1967 in Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR) was a dominant Greco-Roman wrestler for the Soviet Union and later, after its dissolution, for Russia. He won gold medals at the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympic Games. Nicknamed the "Russian Dan Gable", and commonly referred to in the media as "The Experiment", he went undefeated in international competition from 1987 until 2000, when he was upset by American Rulon Gardner in the gold-medal match at the Summer Olympics. Karelin went the last six years of his unbeaten streak without giving up a point.

He competed at the heaviest weight class of his day, 130 kg (286 lb). His conditioning, quickness, and incredible physical stature for his weight, perhaps combined with his dominance of the sport, led to him being known as "The Experiment" by much of the rest of the world. The term connoted the notion that his strength and skill were the result of some kind of scientific experiment. When asked why he thought he was called that, Karelin noted that others don't understand because "I train every day of my life as they have never trained a day in theirs."

1 Technique
2 Life and work
3 See also
4 External link
5 Videos of Karelin in action

[edit] Technique

Karelin throwing fellow Olympian Jeff Blatnick with his Karelin Lift

Karelin was famous for his body lift, the "Karelin Lift", where facing the opponent who was lying flat on the mat to keep from being thrown, Karelin was able to lift the opponent from around his waist and throw him all the way over the opponent's shoulders, scoring from 2 to 5 points depending on the height of the throw. Karelin's ability to make this throw against elite opponents weighing as much as 130 kg was amazing to audiences and other participants in and observers of the sport.

[edit] Life and work

Karelin holds a PhD in Physical Education. He is married and has two sons and a daughter. He is also active in Russian politics and is a member of the United Russia party.