The biathlon world mourns the loss of a multiple relay world champion: Russian biathlete Alexander Ushakov has passed away at the age of 76.
In the 1970s, he was one of the greats in biathlon, and now Russian biathlete Alexander Ushakov has died at the age of 76. The Udmurt Biathlon Federation announced his passing on its Telegram channel. The exact cause of death on August 14 was only described as an “illness,” with no further details provided.
Ushakov began his biathlon career under the Soviet flag in the 1960s, winning gold in the individual event at the Junior World Championships in Zakopane, Poland, in 1969. He then moved up to the professional ranks, where he continued to achieve great success.
As part of the Soviet relay team, Ushakov won his first men’s world championship gold medal in 1970, finishing ahead of Norway and East Germany. The Soviet team, including Ushakov, won the world championship title again in 1974 in Minsk and 1977 in Vingrom. In 1975, they also secured a silver medal at the world championships in Antholz.
Three world titles and bronze in the world championship sprint for Soviet biathlete Ushakov
While Ushakov did not achieve major individual successes in the World Cup, he won a bronze medal in the sprint at the 1977 world championships in Vingrom, marking the biggest individual achievement of his career. In the first official season of the Biathlon World Cup in 1977/1978, he also placed sixth overall.
After his last world championships in 1978 in Hochfilzen, where the Soviet relay team failed to win a world championship medal for the first time since 1966, Ushakov gradually retired from the World Cup circuit. However, he continued to compete in the USSR championships, winning two more titles in 1980.
After his biathlon career, Ushakov worked as a sports instructor at the Leningrad Academy for Spaceflight and later served as a coach for the Saint Petersburg women’s biathlon team.
