Volleyball - ALEKNO Vladimir

General
UPCOMING BREAK
He stepped down from the head coach role at Russian club Zenit Kazan at the end of the 2020/21 season and says he plans to take a break from the sport after leading the Iranian men's team at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "Flights, hotel life, games. I feel that it's harder and harder to find the strength to do it. I have resources for the rest of the season [speaking during the 2020/21 season] and the Iran national team. That's all for now, I'm finishing with the profession of a head coach. I don't swear that it's forever. After the Olympics, it will be necessary to put in order both my health and my thoughts. Then, if there is an inner spark, everything is possible." (worldofvolley.com, 09 Apr 2021)

PLAYING DAYS
Nicknamed 'Vlad', he played centre for CSKA Moscow from 1984 to 1987 before spending three seasons at CSK Minsk. In the 1990/91 season he played for Levski Sofia in Bulgaria, followed by the 1991/92 season with Voluntas Asti in Italy. He played one more year in Italy with Olio Venturi Spolete before moving to France in 1994 to play for AS Cannes. His final three seasons as a player from 1996 to 1999 were spent at Tours VB in France. (zenit-kazan.com, 2016)

SON
His son Loran Alekno played rugby and ice hockey before switching to volleyball in 2011. He has played professional volleyball in Russia for Zenit Kazan and was part of the team that won the 2017 Club World Championship in Poland. (realnoevremya.ru, 13 May 2016; sportbo.ru, 21 Jan 2016; clubworldchampionships.2017.men.fivb.com, 17 Dec 2017)