b. 1976
Wladimir Klitschko
Boxer, 1996 Olympic champion
He sold his Olympic gold medal at a charity auction for a million dollars, and the buyer handed it straight back to his family. Wladimir Klitschko, the 1996 Atlanta champion, went on to reign as world heavyweight champion for nine and a half years.
Key accomplishments
- Olympic super-heavyweight champion in 1996 (Atlanta)
- World champion with the WBO (2000–2003, 2008–2015), IBF and IBO (2006–2015), The Ring (2009–2015) and WBA (2011–2015)
- Heavyweight world champion for about nine and a half years in a row (2006–2015)
- 64 wins in 69 professional fights
- Order of Freedom (2017)
The medal that came back
In 1996 in Atlanta Wladimir Klitschko became Olympic super-heavyweight champion. In 2012 he put that gold medal up for a charity auction. The million dollars it raised went to the Klitschko Brothers Foundation to help Ukrainian children, and the buyer immediately returned the medal to the Klitschko family.
From Kazakhstan to the Olympic ring
Wladimir was born in 1976 in the military settlement of Solnechnyi (now Zhangiztobe) in Kazakhstan. Like his older brother Vitali Klitschko, he graduated from the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi Pedagogical Institute (1996) and defended a candidate’s dissertation in physical education and sport. He was Ukrainian boxing champion several times, and in 1994 he won the European junior championship.
Nine and a half years at the top
After the Olympics Klitschko turned professional. In 2000 he first became WBO world champion, and in 2003 he lost the title. In 2006 he won the IBF belt and then held on to the championship for nine and a half years, adding the WBO, The Ring and WBA belts by 2011. His reign ended in 2015 with a points defeat by the British boxer Tyson Fury. In April 2017 he lost to Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium in London, and in August that year he announced his retirement. In all he had 69 professional fights and won 64 of them.
Outside the ring
In 2003 the Klitschko brothers set up the Klitschko Brothers Foundation. In 2017 Wladimir was awarded the Order of Freedom. On 2 February 2022, before Russia’s full-scale invasion, he signed up for the Territorial Defence Forces in Kyiv.
Why it matters today
Wladimir Klitschko is counted among the all-time greats of heavyweight boxing. His Olympic gold and long reign as champion made Ukrainian boxing known around the world.
