Alexander Ivanovich Tikhonov (Russian: Александр Иванович Тихонов; born 2 January 1947) is a former Soviet-Russian biathlete. On 23 July 2007, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to three years of imprisonment, but he was amnestied immediately and did not spend any time in prison.
Life and career
Tikhonov trained at Dynamo in Novosibirsk. He won nine world championship biathlon 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. W.D. Frank, author of Everyone to Skis! Skiing in Russia and the Rise of Soviet Biathlon, wrote in his book that Tikhonov was a member of the KGB.[1][2]
In 1999 he ran for election to become governor of the Moscow region, but Tikhonov lost in the first round.[3]
After Tikhonov was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, he fled and lived in Austria for several years in the early 2000s.
During the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, when biathlete Valeria Vasnetsova complained about the quality of food she was receiving at her hotel, Tikhonov said: "I would cut off Vasnetsova's tongue for such complaints. At the 1980 Olympics, we lived in America like in a prison and nobody complained."[4]
In September 2023, he publicly supported Russia's attack on Ukraine.[5] Tikhonov volunteered to serve in the "special military operation" in Ukraine in 2023.[6]
International Biathlon Union; bribery
Tikhonov led the Russian Biathlon Union from 1995 to 2008, soon after he was convicted of trying to have a politician killed.[7][8]
In May 2002, after Tikhonov fled to Austria to avoid trial for conspiracy to commit murder, he was chosen as vice president of the International Biathlon Union (IBU), the sport's governing body.[9] He held that position until 2010.[8]
A two-year investigation by the IBU found that Tikhonov offered a bribe of a jewelry box with valuable jewelry to IBU Secretary General Nicole Resch, "to induce her not to pursue suspected doping by Russian biathletes in 2008/2009".[8][10][11][12] The doping cases were three erythropoietin (EPO) cases the IBU had brought against three Russian national team biathletes, Ekaterina Iourieva, Albina Akhatova and Dmitry Yaroshenko.[13][14]
In 2010, he was the second in command at the IBU, and vice president of the Russian Biathlon Union.[9] His presence at the 2010 Winter Olympics troubled many of biathlon's leaders, who said Tikhonov's conviction for trying to arrange a murder damaged the image of the sport.[9] Dr. James Carrabre, a Canadian member of the IBU executive board, said: "It's not good for us, it's not good for our sponsors, to have this perception that maybe we have someone who is a criminal on our board."[9] IBU President Anders Besseberg said Tikhonov's conviction and amnesty created a "difficult and tricky" situation.[9]
The independent External Review Commission of the IBU concluded that Tikhonov attempted to buy votes at the 2014 IBU Congress elections.[12] It also concluded that generally he was not a reliable witness.[8]
In 2018, he was a Georgian delegate for the IBU Congress.[15] He said he would make a congressional proposal that neither Baiba Broka nor Olle Dahlin deserved to be the IBU President.[15] Broka said Tikhonov "always finds only bad things in other people, especially if they candidate for the post of President of the IBU. The fact that he will represent Georgia, raises question why he is not representing his own country".[15]
Conspiracy to commit murder
In 2000, he was accused by prosecutors of participating in planning the assassination of western Siberian Kemerovo Oblast governor Aman Tuleyev.[9][3] 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 to arrange the murder of Tuleyev.[9] Tikhonov put Zhivilo in touch with his younger brother, Viktor Tikhonov, to help arrange the murder. His younger brother hired two potential killers from an organized crime group to commit the murder-–Vladimir Kharchenko and Sergey Nikanorov, who Russian media reported were promised $700,000.[9][3] Kharchenko and Nikanorov instead went to the FSB, and told them about the murder plans.[9]
Viktor Tikhonov was convicted in 2002, and sentenced to four years of imprisonment.[1] He served his term in a maximum security prison.[9][1][16]
Alexander Tikhonov, was charged and arrested in August 2020, but was released from custody a month later when he claimed he was unwell—with an order to remain in Russia. However, he disobeyed the order and fled the country for Austria and Germany, where he lived for several years.[8][17][1][9] He was indicted separately from the other accused. On 23 July 2007, he was tried and found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, and sentenced to three years of imprisonment.[9] However, he was amnestied immediately due to his decorated Olympic career, and did not spend any time in prison.[18]Leonid Tyagachev, president of the Russian Olympic Committee from 2001 to 2010, approved of his amnesty, opining: "The person who has devoted all his life to Russia can't be guilty of anything."[19]
