Valery Kharlamov

Valery Borisovich Kharlamov (1948-1981) - Soviet hockey player, forward of the CSKA team and the Soviet national team. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, two-time Olympic champion and eight-time world champion. The best hockey player of the Soviet Union (1972, 1973).

One of the best hockey players of the USSR in the 70s, who received recognition both at home and abroad. Member of the IIHF Hall of Fame and the Toronto Hockey Hall of Fame.

There are many interesting facts in the biography of Valery Kharlamov, which we will talk about in this article.

So, before you is a short biography of Kharlamov.

Biography of Valery Kharlamov

Valery Kharlamov was born on January 14, 1948 in Moscow. He grew up and was brought up in a family that has nothing to do with professional sports.

His father, Boris Sergeevich Kharlamov, worked as a test fitter and was Russian by nationality. Mother, Carmen Orive-Abad, was a Spanish woman, whom her relatives called Begonia.

Carmen was brought to the USSR in 1937 due to the Spanish Civil War. In the 40s she worked as a revolver-turner at the factory.

Childhood and youth

The head of the family was fond of hockey and even played for the factory team. As a result, my father began to drive to the rink and Valery, who really liked this sport. As a teenager, Kharlamov began training at a youth hockey school.

When Valery was about 13 years old, he fell ill with a sore throat, which gave complications to other organs. This led to the fact that doctors discovered he had a heart defect, as a result of which the boy was forbidden to go to physical education, lift weights and play outdoor games.

However, Kharlamov Sr. did not agree with this verdict of the doctors. As a result, he enrolled his son in the hockey section. An interesting fact is that for a long time Begonia did not know that Valery continued to play hockey.

The boy's mentor was Vyacheslav Tarasov, and after a while - Andrei Starovoitov. At the same time, 4 times a year, father and son did not forget to go to the hospital for a control examination.

It is curious that playing hockey, along with heavy physical activity, helped Valery to become absolutely healthy, which was confirmed by the doctors.

Hockey

Initially, Valery Kharlamov played for the national team of the CSKA sports school. Growing up, he continued his career in the Ural team "Zvezda". It is worth noting that his partner in the team was Alexander Gusev, who in the future will also become a famous hockey player.

Showing confident and technical play Kharlamov attracted the attention of the management of the CSKA club. This led to the fact that from 1967 to 1981 Valery was the forward of the Moscow CSKA.

Once in a professional team, the guy continued to improve his level of play. He managed to reach the greatest mutual understanding at the rink with Boris Mikhailov and Vladimir Petrov.

It is interesting that Kharlamov was short (173 cm), which, according to his next coach Anatoly Tarasov, was a serious drawback for a hockey player. However, his game and technique were so bright that they left all other forwards of the club and the Soviet national team out of competition.

The famous trio of Petrov, Kharlamov and Mikhailov stood out especially on the ice rink, giving the rivals a lot of trouble. Their first major joint victory took place in 1968 during the USSR-Canada match.

After that, the "trio" gained popularity all over the world. Whoever the hockey players played with, they almost always brought victories to the USSR national team. Each of the athletes had special technical characteristics and playing style. Thanks to a clear distribution of roles, they were able to masterfully carry the washers to the opponent's goal.

In turn, Valery Kharlamov showed incredible performance, scoring goals in almost every fight. Biographers agree that it was his effective play that helped the Soviet Union to become a leader at the World Cup in Sweden, and the player himself began to be considered the best Soviet striker.

In 1971 Kharlamov, through the efforts of Tarasov, was transferred to another link - Vikulov and Firsov. Such a castling brings gold medals at the Sapporo Olympics and the championship in the super series of all times and peoples between the USSR and Canada.

At the 1976 Olympics, it was Valery who was able to reverse the outcome of the fight with the Czechs, scoring the decisive puck. In that year, another professional achievement took place in his biography. He was recognized as the best forward of the World Championship, despite the fact that he was not even included in the TOP-5 of the top scorers.

Career decline

In the spring of 1976, Valery Kharlamov got into a serious traffic accident on the Leningradskoe highway. He unsuccessfully tried to overtake a slowly moving truck. Leaving into the oncoming lane, he saw a taxi rushing to the meeting, as a result of which he sharply turned left and rammed the post.

The athlete received fractures of the right lower leg, 2 ribs, concussion and a lot of bruises. Doctors advised him to end his professional career, but he refused such a prospect.

The surgeon Andrei Seltsovsky, who operated on him, helped Kharlamov restore his health. After a couple of months, he began to take the first steps, after which he began to exercise lightly. Later, he already played hockey with the local kids, trying to get back in shape.

In the first professional match with Krylya Sovetov, Valery's partners did their best to make him score the puck. However, he still could not finish the fight. Meanwhile, Viktor Tikhonov became the next CSKA coach.

Thanks to the new practice of training, the team was able to resume the victorious procession at the 1978 and 1979 World Championships. Soon the famous three Petrov-Kharlamov-Mikhailov was disbanded.

On the eve of 1981, Valery Borisovich publicly admitted that the match with Dynamo, in which he scored his last goal, would be the last in his playing career.

After that, the man planned to take up coaching, but these plans never came true. Over the years of his sports biography, he played over 700 games in various tournaments, scoring 491 goals.

Personal life

In early 1975, in one of the capital's restaurants, Kharlamov met his future wife Irina Smirnova. In the autumn of the same year, the boy Alexander was born to young people.

An interesting fact is that the couple registered their relationship after the birth of their son - on May 14, 1976. Over time, the girl Begonita was born in the Kharlamov family.

The hockey player had an excellent ear for music. He played football well, loved the national stage and theatrical art. Since 1979 he was in the ranks of the CPSU, having the rank of Major in the Soviet Army.

Doom

On the morning of August 27, 1981, Valery Kharlamov, together with his wife and relative Sergei Ivanov, died in a car accident. Irina lost control of the highway, which was slippery from the rain, as a result of which her Volga drove into the oncoming lane and crashed into a ZIL. All passengers died on the spot.

At the time of his death, Kharlamov was 33 years old. The hockey players of the Soviet national team, who were at that time in Winnipeg, could not attend the funeral. The players held a meeting at which they decided to win the Canada Cup by any means. As a result, they managed to defeat the Canadians in the final with a crushing score of 8: 1.