FEATURE-Olympics-Russia handball coach harks back to Soviet era

(The following is an updated version of a feature first issued on March 14)

By Gennady Fyodorov

ZVENIGOROD, Russia, July 31 (Reuters) - Yevgeny Trefilov freely admits he is a throwback to a bygone era when Soviet coaches ruled their players with a rod of iron and helped to make the country a sporting superpower.

As Russia struggle to match the achievements of the former Soviet Union in many sports, Trefilov, coach of the national women's handball team, has a track record many of his peers can only dream of.

Led by their charismatic boss, the Russians have struck gold at three of the last four world championships, winning the biennial event in 2003, 2005 and again last year, and have qualified for the Olympics for the first time in 16 years.

The 52-year-old Trefilov's personality and coaching style make him stand out.

Usually shy and unassuming, the 1.90-metre Trefilov, who weighs more than 120 kg, is famous for his verbal outbursts at his charges and has strong views about how to treat them.

"You could say I'm a Soviet-era coach. I was always taught that as coach you need a firm hand to keep players in line," he told Reuters in an interview.

"For many of our young people the word 'Soviet' has a somewhat bad taste and is old-fashioned but in my generation it meant having great pride in your country.

"You must be a dictator if you want to achieve results and working with women you often have to be twice as tough."

To make his point, Trefilov referred to the two-week world championship, held in Paris last December.

"We had games almost every day plus training and the girls started to complain that they hadn't seen much of Paris aside from the hotel and the stadium," he said.

"So when we finally had a day off, I let them go sightseeing, do some shopping. But you know what? The next day we nearly lost to (rank outsiders) Brazil. It just shows you can't be too soft on women, especially Russian women."

SOVIET ERA

He models himself on great Soviet-era coaches such as basketball's Alexander Gomelsky and ice hockey's Viktor Tikhonov who won numerous world and Olympic titles in the 1970s and 1980s.

"Tikhonov, Gomelsky...I've always looked up to them because they did our country proud," said Trefilov, who has criticised the influx of foreign coaches to Russia in recent years.

"They've come here to make good money but I don't think they're willing to give their heart and soul for Russia."

Trefilov also coaches Russian champions Zvezda Zvenigorod and is just as successful at club level.

He led Lada Togliatti to five consecutive national titles before joining Zvezda in 2006.