Nikolay Karpol

Nikolay Vasiliyevich Karpol (Николай Васильевич Карполь; 1 May 1938, Bereznitsa village, former Polesie Voivodeship, Republic of Poland) is a Russian women's volleyball coach and a longstanding coach of the Soviet national team (then the Commonwealth of Independent States team of 1992 following the collapse of the USSR) and later the Russian national team. Known as The Howling Bear, Karpol was a regular at the Olympic Games, with his teams usually earning a last call on the Olympic podium, winning gold medals in 1980 and 1988 and taking the silver medals in 1992, 2000 and 2004 for a total of five Olympic medals. In 2020, he set a new world record by coaching Uralochka for 51 years.

Summer Olympic Games

 * 1980 Moscow – Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1988 Seoul – Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1992 Barcelona – Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with Olympic flag.svg EUN)
 * 2000 Sydney – Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2004 Athens – Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)

FIVB World Championships

 * 1990 – Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1994 – Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1998 – Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2002 – Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg (with 🇷🇺 RUS)

European Championships

 * 1977 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1979 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1981 - Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with URS)
 * 1983 - Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with URS)
 * 1985 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1987 - Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with URS)
 * 1989 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1991 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with URS)
 * 1993 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1995 - Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg Bronze medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1997 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1999 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2001 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2005 - Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg Bronze medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2007 - Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg Bronze medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)

World Grand Champions Cup

 * 1993 – Simple bronze cup.svg Third Place (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1997 – Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2001 – Simple silver cup.svg Runner-Up (with 🇷🇺 RUS)

Grand-prix

 * 1993 - Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg Bronze medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1996 - Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg Bronze medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1997 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1998 - Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 1999 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2000 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2002 - Gold medal 2006 OG.svg Gold medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2001 - Bronze medal 2006 OG.svg Bronze medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)
 * 2003 - Silver medal 2006 OG.svg Silver medal (with 🇷🇺 RUS)

CEV Champions League

 * 1981 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1982 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1983 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1987 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1988 - Simple silver cup.svg Runner-Up (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1989 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1990 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1991 - Simple silver cup.svg Runner-Up (with Uralochka Sverdlovsk)
 * 1992 - Simple bronze cup.svg Third Place (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 1993 - Simple bronze cup.svg Third Place (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 1994 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 1995 - Simple gold cup.svg Champion (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 1996 - Simple silver cup.svg Runner-Up (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 1997 - Simple silver cup.svg Runner-Up (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 2000 - Simple silver cup.svg Runner-Up (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 2001 - Simple bronze cup.svg Third Place (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)
 * 2003 - Simple silver cup.svg Runner-Up (with 🇷🇺 Uralochka Yekaterinburg)

For lifetime dedication and great career, he was inducted in 2009 to the Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Croatian journalist and publicist Tomislav Birtic published a book Karpol: Lunatics - That's What I Need.

Honours and awards

 * Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class
 * Honoured Worker of Physical Culture, Russia
 * Order of Friendship
 * Order of the Red Banner of Labour
 * Order of Friendship of Peoples
 * Honorary Citizen of the Sverdlovsk Oblast