2. * I remember it as if it was yesterday.
* In 1980 I entered Perm State Pedagogical Institute and at
the ceremony of the beginning of the school year the
Rector of the Institute proudly told us about Vladimir
Alikin, the student of Physical Training Faculty. By that
time he had become an Olympic champion in Lake-Placid.
3. *He was my idol at that time. Born in the Urals, I was crazy
about skiing and knew how difficult that sport was; but
when I saw Vladimir Alikin skiing, and shooting, and winning
I fell in love with biathlon.
4. The fact that Vladimir was from the Perm Region appealed
to my heart. Besides, to my mind, he was as quick as a
flash and was brilliant at shooting.
5. Vladimir was born in a small provincial town of the Perm
Region Nytva and he was good at skiing in his
childhood. In 1977 Vladimir started to go in for biathlon
where he was a success from the very beginning.
6. *The 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid were the highlight of
Vladimir Alikin’s sport career. There Alikin won a gold
medal with the USSR relay team and a silver medal in the
sprint event.
*In the World Championships he has won four medals:
*bronze in 10 km sprint in 1982,
*three relay bronze medals in 1979, 1981, and 1982.
*In 1980 Vladimir won the Biathlon World Cup in 10 km
sprint and USSR Championships in the same event.
7. *In 1990 Vladimir Alikin became
a coach. He started working in
the skiing team of Armed
Forces sports society. In seven
years he became a chief coach
of Khanty-Mansiisky biathlon
team.
*Nowadays the famous
biathlonist is responsible for
the main men’s biathlon team
of Russia.
*He believes in his sportsmen as
he believed in himself in 1980
and I’m sure our sportsmen will
win!
