Russian athlete with Ossetian roots Alan Karaev successfully performed in two disciplines at once - sumo and arm wrestling. He entered the ring under the nickname Kid. On account of Karaev, multiple victories at the world and European championships. Since 2016, he has been the head of the Russian Sumo Federation.
Biography: early years
Alan Taimurazovich Karaev was born on May 19, 1977 in Digor. This small town is located in North Ossetia, 50 km from Vladikavkaz. Alan's family belongs to the indigenous Digors (one of the Ossetian ethnic groups).
At birth, Karaev weighed over 7 kg. The athlete's mother recalled that the midwife, seeing such a newborn, was confused. At the age of six months, Alan's weight was already 19 kg.
He began to try himself in the fight from early childhood. Until the age of 17, Karaev outgrew all weight categories, so he competed in the absolute. And quite successfully.
Sports career
Alan came to big sport in 1995. Then he was barely 18 years old. Kazbek Zoloev took him under his wing, who by that time was already a respected armwrestling specialist. Karaev quickly found himself in this discipline. From the very first trainings, he began to show excellent results.
It took Alan only a year to become world champion from scratch. In armwrestling, Karaev won many titles. In an interview, he admitted that at some point he became uninteresting, since all the peaks in this sport were conquered. So Alan decided to try himself in sumo. In this discipline, he also did not have to wait long for success.
For a long time, Karaev combined two sports, showing excellent results. So, in 2002 he became the first at the World Amateur Sumo Championship. This was followed by a series of victories in other tournaments.
In 2005, Alan got bored with sumo too. Then he decided to go into mixed fights. In this sport, he was not all so rosy. At the beginning of the journey, he decided not to waste time on trifles and immediately go into battle with strong and famous opponents. This became a mistake. The first two meetings were lost. The rivals knocked out Karaev lightly.
After that, Alan fought a less powerful opponent and took over him in the first seconds. Then Karaev spent two more fights. He lost one of them. Alan had a successful second fight, but after it the athlete decided to leave the mixed fights. After leaving, Karaev threw all his strength into sumo.
In 2012, Alan became the world heavyweight champion in sumo. Then his weight was 240 kg. On such a bright note, he decided to gradually leave the big sport.
In 2016, Karaev took over at the helm of the Russian Sumo Federation.
At the beginning of 2019, it became known that Alan had serious health problems. The athlete suffered a heart attack and was recovering in the clinic for a long time.
Personal life
Alan Karaev is married. Together with his wife, he is raising three children. The family lives in North Ossetia.
