Aleksandr Privalov

Aleksandr Privalov came late to sports. Military patrol was a standard practice in the Soviet Army and Privalov soon became interested in the event. But unlike other early Soviet biathletes he was not a fast skier, so he concentrated on shooting, which brought him success at the international level. At the 1960 Winter Olympics, his time was only third among the Soviet biathletes, but with relatively clean shooting he managed to rise to a bronze medal position. At the 1964 Olympics, Privalov’s skiing time was only 16th, but with clean shooting he rose to second place. Besides his two Olympic medals, Privalov won one silver in the relay at the 1961 World Championships and was a five-time Soviet champion (1960, 1961, 1964, 1965 in the 20 km and in 1966 in the relay). After retirement from competition, Aleksandr Privalov worked from 1966-94 as the coach of the Soviet and Russian national biathlon teams. He was the head coach of the Soviet Union’s 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 Olympic teams and the 1994 Russian Olympic women team.