Aleksandr Tuchkin

Aleksandr Arkadyevich Tuchkin (born 15 July 1964) is a Russian/Belarusian team handball player and Olympic champion from 2000 in Sydney and 1988 in Seoul.^[1][2] He received a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with the Russian national team.^[3][4]

Aleksandr Tuchkin
Personal information
Full name	Aleksandr Arkadyevich Tuchkin
Born	15 July 1964 (1964-07-15) (age 61) Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	203 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Right back
Senior clubs
Years	Team
1984-1990	SKA Minsk
1990-1998	TUSEM Essen
1998-2000	GWD Minden
2000	Eintracht Hildesheim
2000-2002	Teka Cantabria
2002-2004	AC Filippos Verias
2004-2005	TSV Hannover-Burgdorf
2006	Wilhelmshavener HV
National team
Years	Team
1986-1992	Soviet Union
1992-1995	Belarus	10	(48)
1998-2004	Russia	92	(299)
Medal record Men's handball Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Team World Championships 1990 Czechoslovakia Team Representing  Russia Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Team 2004 Athens Team World Championships 1999 Egypt Team European Championships 2000 Croatia Team

Club career

Soviet Union

Tuchkin started his career at SKA Minsk, where he made his senior debut aged 20.^[5] Here he won the 1987, 1989 and 1990 European Champions Cup and the 1988 EHF Cup Winners' Cup, as well as the Soviet Championship four times in a row from 1986 to 1989.^[6]

Germany

After the Fall of the Berlin Wall he moved to Germany and joined TUSEM Essen. Here he won the DHB-Pokal in 1991 and 1992 and the EHF City Cup in 1994.

In 1998 he joined GWD Minden. Due to being involved in a car crash under the influence of alcohol, he was told he would not have his contract extended in September 1999.^[7] He was then out of contract for a year before joining Eintracht Hildesheim in 2000.

Spain

6 months later he joined Spanish club CB Cantabria Santander.^[8]

Greece

In 2002 he joined the Greek side AC Filippos Verias where he won the Greek championship in 2003 and reached the final of the EHF Challenge Cup, losing to Danish side Skjern Håndbold.^[9]

Back to Germany

In 2004 he returned to Germany and joined Regionalliga side TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. With them he was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga and retired afterwards.^[10]

In the spring of 2006 he made a short comeback for Wilhelmshavener HV.^[11]

National team

Soviet Union

Tuchkin played with the Soviet Union junior national team from 1985, and made his debut for the Senior team the following year.^[6] He participated in the Soviet team that won gold medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.^[1]

Two years later he won silver medals at the 1990 World Championship, losing to Sweden in the final. With 55 goals Tuchkin was the top scorer at the tournament, together with Cuban Julián Duranona.

He missed the 1992 Olympics due to injury.^[6]

Belarus

After the Dissolution of the Soviet Union he played for a short while for the Belarusian national team.^[6] He represented them at the 1995 World Championship, where they finished 9th. In total he played only 10 games for Belarus.^[12]

Russia

After being asked by his friend Andrey Lavrov he played from 1998 for the Russian national team. His first major international tournament was the 1999 World Championship, where Russia won silver medals, once again losing to Sweden.^[13]

At the 2000 European Championship he once again won silver medals, losing the Sweden in the final.^[14]

At the 2000 Olympics he finally won gold medals with Russia.^[2]

At the age of 40 he represented Russia once again at the 2004 Olympics, winning bronze medals.^[3]

Post-playing career

After his playing days Tuchkin has worked in the Russian Ministry of Sports together with Andrey Lavrov to promote handball in Russia.^[15]