Nikita Zakharov is a Russian luge and bobsledder. Behind him are dozens of international competitions, including the Olympics. At the age of 19, he completely switched to bobsleigh, where he was a pilot and played in both "twos" and "fours".
Biography: early years
Nikita Vladimirovich Zakharov was born on June 14, 1987 in Dmitrov, near Moscow. He came to the luge section thanks to his older brother, who was successfully engaged there. Nikita was already 11 years old then. Olga Istarova became his first coach. Thanks to his good physical shape, he began to show good results almost immediately.
He was engaged in sledging for seven years, "grew" to a candidate for master of sports. Zakharov was included in the main composition of the junior national team of Russia. He competed in a single sled.
In 2005, Nikita lost his former form. For this reason, he had a disagreement with the coach. It was decided to switch to a related sport - bobsleigh. Then in Russia he was in deep decline, and several years remained before the loud victories of Zubkov and Voevoda.
After leaving luge, Zakharov got into the Moscow bobsleigh team. Nikita trained under the guidance of two famous coaches: Oleg Sokolov and Alexander Shcheglovsky. First, they tried it as an overclocking bob. However, he lacked speed for this role. Then the coaches decided to transfer Nikita to the pilot's seat. Sokolov and Shcheglovsky did not lose.
Career
Zakharov began performing in bobsled with junior competitions. In 2010, at the World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, his crew took second place. Two years later, Zakharov's Quartet repeated the result in the Austrian Igls.
Nikita made his debut at important "adult" international bobsleigh competitions in the 2012/2013 season. So, at the world championship in the American Lake Placid, his "four" did not quite reach the top ten - it took 11th place. Zakharov himself was pleased with the result. In an interview, he noted that this is a good place to debut. But in the "twos" Zakharov and his partner Maxim Meleshkin showed the 19th result.
That season, Nikita did not manage to get into the main squad of the Russian national team, but this only tempered his character. Zakharov began to work hard on the technique.
At the 2013 World Cup in Lake Placid, Nikita showed the best result in the races of "fours" among all crews from Russia. His car came to the finish line fourth. However, he failed the second attempt, eventually closing the top ten.
At the Sochi Olympics, Zakharov piloted the third bob of the Russian national team. His "four" was able to take only 15th place.
In 2017, Zakharov completed his sports career.
Personal life
Nikita Zakharov is married. It is known that the spouse's name is Victoria. In the summer of 2014, a girl was born to the family. The couple gave her the name Valeria.
