Biography
The great Soviet hockey player, multiple world champion, member of two NHL and IIHF halls of fame, Valery Borisovich Kharlamov, was born into a family of simple workers at a tool factory. What was unusual was that the mother of the future athlete, Carmen Orive-Abad, affectionately called Begonia, was from Spain: she was taken to the USSR as a child in the late 30s.
Valery Kharlamov in childhood
She was a passionate, temperamental woman; with her brightness, she amazed master Boris Sergeevich Kharlamov, with whom she worked at the same factory. After they met at a dance, the couple in love never parted, and a few months later, on January 14, 1948, their first child, Valery, was born. After the parents managed to register the relationship, another daughter, Tatyana, was born into the family.
Little Valery Kharlamov with his family
From childhood, the boy began going to the hockey rink, since his father was a fan of this sport and often played for his native team. After several family trips to Spain to visit relatives, where little Valera got involved in football, he continued to train at the youth hockey school under the leadership of Vyacheslav Tazov, but secretly due to his illness. The boy was suspected of having rheumatism and was forbidden to engage in physical education. But his father’s method of playing sports yielded results: already on his 14th birthday, Valery was completely healthy.
Triumph
Valery Kharlamov - CSKA forward
The golden season of 1967-1968 was the birth of the Mikhailov-Petrov-Kharlamov trio, which was included in the second USSR national team (instead of Czechoslovakia for the Izvestia newspaper prize), and a year later 21-year-old Kharlamov became the world champion in hockey.
Awards and gold medals followed one after another. Kharlamov proved that even without size, hockey players can achieve success in this sport. He was unusually agile, had excellent stick and puck control, and was distinguished by his quick thinking.
His breakthroughs, swift as lightning, and his technique were enjoyed by millions of fans - the same delight as the 17th number of the army team and the national team could be caused on a regular basis, perhaps, only by the Dynamo nugget Alexander Maltsev, whose best friend was precisely Kharlamov.
By 1972, Valery Kharlamov became one of the best not only in the country, but also in Europe, and in a series of matches between the USSR and Canada, he conquered the North American continent. Then no one doubted that victory would certainly be for the Canadians, but the Soviet team defied all expectations. Kharlamov was recognized as the best, he was offered a million dollars in the NHL, the whole trio was invited along with Petrov and Mikhailov, but the hockey players unanimously refused - such was Soviet upbringing.
Valery Kharlamov as part of the USSR national team in the 1972 Super Series against the Canadian team
Along with his sports life, Valery’s personal life was also successful. He got married and had a son, but in the spring of 1976, Kharlamov and his wife had a serious accident. Broken shins, broken ankles, ribs, a concussion and numerous bruises confined him to a hospital bed for months. Doctors gave no hope of continuing his sports career.
Nevertheless, he returned to duty in the fall. There was talk that now Kharlamov would not be as before, his bright star would no longer shine, but Valery again proved the opposite. Again, as upon his return from Chebarkul, he had to start all over again. Grueling training, work on the verge of self-torture, and Kharlamov, as before, together with CSKA continues to lead the national championship, win European and world gold in the national team.
Hockey
Initially, the young man played for the CSKA sports school team. He continued his adult career as part of the Zvezda team from the Ural town of Chebarkul. His partner in this team was Alexander Gusev, who would later also enter the top echelons of Soviet hockey players. After a series of victories, Kharlamov is given a chance to try himself on the big stage and is taken into the CSKA squad. Boris Mikhailov and Vladimir Petrov become Valery’s partners here for a long time.
Valery Kharlamov on ice
Kharlamov had a significant drawback, according to his next coach Anatoly Tarasov, this was his short height for a hockey player - 173 cm. Despite this, Valery, with his style of play and sports intuition, still won the sympathy of his mentor and got access to the ice as a member of the USSR national team .
Petrov - Kharlamov - Mikhailov
Work in the famous troika Petrov - Kharlamov - Mikhailov played a big role in the biography of each of the three athletes. Their first joint victory occurred in 1968 during the USSR-Canada match. After which the famous trio became a thunderstorm on the ice court: wherever the athletes appeared, they always brought victory to the Soviet team and defeat to their opponents.
The legendary trio of Petrov-Kharlamov-Mikhailov
Thanks to the special playing style of each of the athletes and the clear distribution of roles among themselves, the hockey players skillfully carried the pucks to the opponent’s goal. Kharlamov’s own performance was also excellent. Because of his efforts, the USSR national team became the leader at the World Championships in Sweden, and the athlete himself began to be considered the best striker of the Soviet Union in personal points.
In 1971, according to the calculations of coach Tarasov, the hockey player was transferred to another link - Vikulov and Firsov. This castling brings gold at the Sapporo Olympics and championship in the super series of all times between the Soviet Union and Canada.
At the 1976 Olympics, it was Kharlamov who managed to change the outcome of the match with the Czechs, scoring the decisive goal into the enemy’s goal.
Kharlamov Valery Borisovich
14.01.1948 – 27.08.1981
Career:
- "Star" Chebarkul (1966-1967).
- CSKA (1967-1981; 438 matches, 293 goals).
As a member of the USSR national team, he played 292 matches and scored 193 goals.
Team Achievements:
- Olympic champion 1972, 1976.
- Silver medalist at the 1980 Olympic Games.
- World champion 1969-1971, 1973-1975, 1978, 1979.
- European champion 1969, 1970, 1973-1975, 1978, 1979.
- Silver medalist at the 1972 and 1976 World Championships.
- Bronze medalist at the 1977 World Championships.
- Champion of the USSR 1968, 1970-1973, 1975, 1977-1981.
- Silver medalist of the USSR championships in 1969, 1974, 1976.
- Winner of the USSR Cup 1968, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1979.
Personal achievements:
- Included in the IIHF Team of the Century.
- Best striker of the 1976 World Cup.
- He was a member of the symbolic team of the 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976 World Championships according to journalists' polls.
- The best hockey player of the USSR 1972, 1973.
- Top scorer of the 1971 USSR Championship.
Decline of a career
In the same year, Kharlamov experienced a serious car accident in which he got into on the Leningradskoe Highway while sitting behind the wheel of his car. The athlete spent a long time recovering from serious injuries. The surgeons at the military hospital helped him a lot. The doctors raised their idol to his feet, and he was able to get on the ice again.
Valery Kharlamov on crutches after the first accident
In the first match with Krylia Sovetov, Kharlamov’s partners did everything possible to ensure that he scored a goal. But Valery did not manage to finish the game; he still felt bad. At this time, the CSKA team is replacing its coach with a new coach, Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov. Thanks to new training tactics, the team managed to resume its victorious march at the 1978 and 1979 World Championships. After which the legendary troika was gradually disbanded.
On the eve of 1981, Kharlamov announced to everyone that after the match with Dynamo, where the athlete scored his last 293 goal, he would go into coaching. But this was not destined to happen.
Personal life
The only thing known about Kharlamov’s personal life before his marriage is that he devoted all his free time to sports. In 1975, at a celebration in one of the restaurants in Moscow, Valery met his future wife Irina Smirnova. The young people, despite the 8-year age difference, immediately fell in love with each other and began to live together.
Wedding of Valery Kharlamov and Irina Smirnova
After some time, their son Alexander was born, and after registering their marriage in May 1976, the couple had a daughter, Begonita. After several years of living together, the young people received a three-room apartment near the Alekseevskaya metro station.
Death
At the end of the summer of 1981, an event occurred that negatively affected the psychological well-being of the hockey player. For the first time, CSKA flew to the Canada Cup without Kharlamov, despite the absence of his official announcement of retirement. Valery planned to play his last competition abroad, but the club’s management decided differently. The last conversation with mentor Tikhonov took place in a tense state. Kharlamov’s family was at the dacha at that time.
Valery Kharlamov with children
In the early morning of August 27, 1981, Valery, his wife Irina and her cousin decided to take their own Volga home to Moscow. On the way, Irina got behind the wheel of a car. The young woman did not have much driving experience and when a minor emergency occurred, she lost control. The vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic and collided with a truck. The cause of death for all passengers in the car was multiple injuries received during the accident.
Road accident in which Valery Kharlamov and his wife died
In the morning, all the media in the world were broadcasting about the tragedy that had occurred. The civil funeral service took place at the CSKA Palace; the graves of all the victims are located in the cemetery in Kuntsevo. Since the CSKA team could not come to the funeral, the athletes promised to take the Canadian Cup in memory of their friend. This was achieved by playing the final against the hosts of the competition with a crushing score of 8:1.
Monuments to Valery Kharlamov at the grave and at the place of death
The Kharlamov children were taken under her care by Irina’s mother, who was still full of strength at that time. Colleagues in the hockey workshop provided great support in the education of Alexander and Begonita. The boy subsequently made a career in hockey, becoming a children's coach, and then went into business. And the girl received the title of Master of Sports in rhythmic gymnastics. The children of Valery Kharlamov are happy in their families. Alexander and his wife are raising their son Valery, and Begonia has two daughters growing up - Dasha and Annushka.
Children of Valery Kharlamov today
In memory of the legend of Soviet hockey, several documentaries and feature films of Russian and Canadian production were created. Viewers especially remembered the films “Extra Time,” released in 2007, and “Legend No. 17,” which appeared in 2013.
In the first film the famous actors Dmitry Kharatyan, Alexey Chadov, Olga Krasko played, in the second film the cast included Danila Kozlovsky, Svetlana Ivanova, Oleg Menshikov, Vladimir Menshov.
Valery Kharlamov and actor Danila Kozlovsky
Kharlamov’s mother-in-law, Nina Vasilievna Smirnova, when she first saw Danila Kozlovsky in the photo, admitted that he was very similar to Valery.
Children of Valery Kharlamov
The death of the Kharlamov couple left their two young children orphans: a six-year-old son, Sasha, and a four-year-old girl, Begonita, named after her grandmother, Kharlamov’s mother. Grief did not unite the Kharlamov and Smirnov families: for many years they shared custody of the children. Nevertheless, it was determined that the kids would remain with their maternal grandmother.
Alexander, remembering how his father wanted his son to play hockey, began training as a child: Vyacheslav Fetisov and other hockey players from CSKA helped him in his development. Therefore, the boy first played for his native team, and then for American clubs. He is married and has a son, whom he named after his father - Valery.
Sports entered Begonita’s life: she became a master of sports in rhythmic gymnastics. Has two daughters.
