Aleksandr Karshakevich

Sport: Handball

Born: 6 April 1959

Birthplace: Oshmyany, Grodno Region, BSSR

Honors:

Honored Master of Sport of the USSR, 1982

Career highlights:

Gold, Olympic Games in Seoul, 1988

Silver, Olympic Games in Moscow, 1980

Gold, Men's Junior World Handball Championship, 1979

Gold, USSR Cup, 1980-1981

Gold, World Men's Handball Championship, 1982

Gold, USSR Championship,1981, 1983-1984, 1987-1989

Gold (SKA Minsk club), EHF Cup Winners' Cup, 1983, 1985

Gold, World Men's Handball Cup, 1984

Gold (SKA Minsk), European Cup, 1987, 1989-1990

Gold (SKA Minsk), European Champion Clubs' Cup, 1989

Silver, World Men's Handball Championship, 1990

Biography:

Aleksandr Karshakevich was born in Oshmyany, Grodno Region on 6 April 1959. The Minsk school where the future Olympic champion studied, was known for its sporting excellence. It offered classes in basketball, football, athletics. Aleksandr Karshakevich was good at running and long jump, but he preferred team sports. In 1970, handball coach Arkady Britsko started attending physical education lessons at School No. 93 scouting for talented young athletes for his handball class. Among them was Aleksandr Karshakevich. The fledgling athlete developed a great passion for handball; this sport became the thing of his whole life.

Under the guidance of the great coach Spartak Mironovich, Aleksandr Karshakevich played as a winger. His excellent performance propelled him to the elite of Soviet and world handball.

The athlete grabbed his career’s first medal (gold) at the USSR Youth Games in 1977. Three years later, he competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The GDR team beat the Soviet handball team in a dramatic final only by one point. Aleksandr Karshakevich still blames himself for not being able to bring the match to a draw in the last seconds and earn extra time. Nevertheless, he graced the Olympic podium at the age of 21.

Thanks to unique twists, Aleksandr Karshakevich managed to score goals from almost a zero angle. He was one of the players associated with the heyday of SKA Minsk. The Belarusian athlete became a many-time champion of the USSR, as well as the holder of the USSR Cup, European Champion Clubs' Cup, EHF Cup Winners' Cup, and Challenge Cup.

But his biggest achievement was the Olympic gold the USSR handball team won at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. After the victory in South Korea, Aleksandr Karshakevich returned to Belarus where he continued to play for SKA Minsk until 1990. After that he played and trained in Germany.

In 1995, Spartak Mironovich invited Aleksandr Karshakevich to become a coach in SKA Minsk. Since that time, the prominent athlete has been coaching future handball champions.

 



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