Alexander Karelin, a nine-times world champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, holds the rank of colonel with the tax police and recently became the No. 2 candidate on the Unity (Yedintsvo) party election list. He spoke to The Russia Journal about the upcoming elections and his career in general.

RJ: What made you decide to go into politics?

AK: I want to bring to politics what I've fought for my whole career - the rules of fair play. I'm not going to start hatching political intrigues but will bring with me my reputation as an honest sportsman.

RJ: You said in an interview with radio station Ekho Moskvy that you'll use what sports has taught you in politics. What do you mean by that?

AK: I mean spreading a healthy sense of ethics. In Greco-Roman wrestling - the sport I've devoted 20 years of my life to - there are specific rules and a sort of athlete's moral code. We don't use pain-inducing moves and strangleholds. When faced with a weak opponent, we get the fight over quickly and don't humiliate them.

The boys learn these rules right from the start. I think it would be good to transfer these rules to politics.

Also from sports is the ability to clearly define your aim and then concentrate maximum effort on achieving it.

RJ: There's plenty of dirt in politics. Are you ready for it?

AK: I'm not preparing for it. I hope that the elections will bring into parliament people who will fight by honest means and keep to the principles of mutual respect. People should be respected for results, not for belonging to such and such a party. There's always a natural selection, even within the same team. In both politics and sport, there has to be a real and not invented system of values.

RJ: But isn't that somewhat idealistic?

AK: It's you journalists who are spreading dirt and unhealthy values in politics. Where were you when I came back from the world championship with my ninth gold medal? Until I decided to go into politics, no one paid me much attention. Now I can't get away from journalists.

We need normal ideals, nonpolitical ideals. I'm not saying I'm an ideal, but there are plenty of enthusiasts, the people behind Russian sport, only they don't make it on to the TV screens.

There was a horde of journalists when I went to Kemerovo recently for the eighth youth tournament.

Wrestling has got more attention this past month than in all the last 11 years. Now I want to know: Is it possible to get people interested in normal things or not?

RJ: Imagine mud gets flung at you. Would you reply to the accusations, say, about ties with the mafia, as has already been alluded to?

AK: When two people quarrel in this country, it's always the cleverer one who's wrong. I don't intend to dig up dirt on anyone, though I certainly could - I'm on very good terms with my favorite federal service - the tax police.

RJ: What laws would you push for in the Duma?

AK: On promoting sport. Soon, for example, Larissa Latinina, a great gymnast with 19 Olympic medals will turn 65, and what's being done to celebrate this? She's a national symbol.

We need symbols, not the mafiosi or drug addicts who get on TV. They're just the shit that floats to the top. We need normal, healthy values and self-respect. Why does TV show political dirt? Because it's become hard to get people interested in politics or elections by any other means. It's not the media that interests me, but how we see the world. And I'm not just interested in sports veterans, but in all old people, those who have nothing but the red flag today.

RJ: And what do you think of these people with their red flags?

AK: I understand that it's hard, at 60 or 70, to change and figure out just where we're heading. Especially when there's no light at the end of the tunnel. When I think of the communists, I think of my mother who worked hard and brought up my sister and me. But she has little in common with the people I see beside [KPRF leader Gennady] Zyuganov today. I don't call myself "left" or "right."

I'm not categorically against anything. I like the word "unity."

RJ: What attracted you to [Unity leader Sergei] Shoigu? How did he win your support?

AK: He didn't pretend to know everything. He just said, "Let's give it a try, work together" - and that suited me. He trusted me. People talk of me as an individual in my own right now; whereas, before, I was just a "wrestler." People saw the stereotypes, the strong boy, the Olympic champion, then the "Siberian bear." Then I was a "bandit" with my short hair and leather jacket. Only later, I became "intellectually developed," I could read and ask for bread or where the toilet was in English. Any image can be created like this. But no one is ever interested in what's really happening. Only Shoigu showed interest.

RJ: How would you sum up Unity's platform?

AK: The fight to create a strong state with social self-respect and a sense of national identity.

We are a great country, but we've lost a lot in recent years. Now it's time to start getting something back.

RJ: Joining a party means accepting its discipline. Now, will you find yourself, say, having to criticize [OVR leaders] Yury Luzhkov and Yevgeny Primakov?

AK: It's not Unity's style to just criticize all around. I think we shouldn't be fighting against our competitors, but fighting for the voters. We have to win over voters by proposing detailed programs and proving that we can do something, not by covering decent people in mud. It's easy to criticize those in power now, their mistakes are there for all to see. But I'm not planning to criticize Luzhkov or Yeltsin. What I will do is take into account their experiences, both positive and negative.

RJ: What do you think about what's happening now in Chechnya?

AK: The authorities are responsible for the situation. They've gone from extreme to extreme in dealing with the Chechen issue. Now we have to work out, do the Chechen people unanimously want to end the field commanders' power and end crime? If so, then we must help them. But if the Chechens want independence, then they must hand back what they've taken from us over these years.

RJ: Pay for their independence, you mean?

AK: Not pay, but produce their own gas, electricity. If [Chechen President Aslan] Maskhadov wants to end the war, let him hand over the main terrorists.

If he can't do that on his own, let him get his loyal forces to help him. If he doesn't do it, then there's no sense in holding negotiations.

RJ: It's known that you like reading. What books do you come back to most often?

AK: I like Dostoyevsky because I think he best explains who we are - the people who live in Russia. He explains our character.