Alexander Tikhonov


Alexander Ivanovich Tikhonov is a former Soviet biathlete.

Life and career

Tikhonov trained at Dynamo in Novosibirsk. He is one of the most successful biathletes of all time, with nine world championship gold medals and four Olympic gold medals. He lacks an individual Olympic gold medal in his cupboard, but took part in the gold medal relay winning teams in 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980.
In May 2002, he was chosen as vice president of the International Biathlon Union. He lived in Austria for several years in the early 2000s.
In 2000, he was accused of participating in planning the murder of Kemerovo Oblast governor Aman Tuleyev. According to the prosecution, a businessman named Mikhail Zhivilo and his company MIKOM had a business conflict with Tuleyev, and Zhivilo decided to organize Tuleyev's murder as revenge. Zhivilo knew Tikhonov and, allegedly, asked him for help. Tikhonov got him in touch with his younger brother, Viktor Tikhonov, who found two potential killers—Vladimir Kharchenko and Sergey Nikanorov. Kharchenko and Nikanorov went to FSB and told them about the murder plans. Viktor Tikhonov was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to four years imprisonment. Since Alexander Tikhonov lived in Austria for several years, he was indicted separately from the other accused. On July 23, 2007, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. However, he was amnestied immediately and will not spend any time in prison.

Honours and awards

All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games

5 medals
EventIndividualSprintRelay
1968 GrenobleSilverGold
1972 Sapporo4thGold
1976 Innsbruck5thGold
1980 Lake Placid—9thGold

World Championships

17 medals
EventIndividualSprintRelay
1967 Altenberg9thSilver
1969 ZakopaneGoldGold
1970 ÖstersundGoldGold
1971 HämeenlinnaSilverGold
1973 Lake PlacidGoldGold
1974 Minsk5th11thGold
1975 Antholz-Anterselva7th6thSilver
1976 Antholz-AnterselvaGold
1977 LillehammerBronzeGoldGold
1978 Hochfilzen17th17th4th
1979 RuhpoldingSilver6thBronze

Individual victories

2 victories
SeasonDateLocationDisciplineLevel
1978–79
2 victories
21 January 1979 Antholz-Anterselva10 km sprintBiathlon World Cup
1978–79
2 victories
6 April 1979 Bardufoss20 km individualBiathlon World Cup