Alzhan Zharmukhamedov

Who is Alzhan Zharmukhamedov?

Alzhan Musurbekovich Zharmukhamedov Kazakh: Әлжан Мұсырбекұлы Жармухамедов, Russian: Алжан Мусурбекович Жармухамедов; born 2 October 1944 in Bostandyk area, Tashkent Oblast, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Tavaksai, Tashkent Oblast, Uzbekistan) is a retired Kazakh basketball player who won gold medal in 1972 Olympic Games while playing for the USSR basketball team. He can be considered as the first ethnic Kazakh to become an Olympic champion.

He played for CSKA Moscow (1969–1979). In 1971 he earned the title Master of Sports of the USSR, International Class and a year later he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor. He currently lives in Moscow.

While being young and driven with feelings of patriotism, he moved to Almaty (Alma-Ata at that time) in order to defend the titles of Kazakh SSR's national team. However, not being able to find any support, he finally decided to move to Moscow, where he was able to earn a world fame as a basketball player. He served as a captain of the combined basketball team of Soviet Union for a long period, and was able to be a playing trainer until he reached an age of 45.