Kharlov competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the semifinals of the men's 400 m hurdles.[1] He set his personal best (48.78 seconds) on 20 June 1983, at the Soviet Spartakiad, winning his only Soviet championship title;[2] as of 2015[update], this time remains the Uzbekistani national record.[3] Later that summer, he won gold at the Universiade in Edmonton, running 49.41 and defeating Senegal's Amadou Dia Ba by half a second.[4] At the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki in August 1983 Kharlov won the bronze medal in 49.03; running in lane one, Kharlov was among the tail-enders for much of the race but finished fast, edging out Sweden's Sven Nylander (who also started slow) by 0.03 seconds.[5]
^Butler, Mark; IAAF Media & Public Relations Department (2013). IAAF Statistics Handbook Moscow 2013. International Association of Athletics Federations.