Ice hockey-Famed Russian coach Tikhonov dies aged 84

MOSCOW, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Viktor Tikhonov, who coached the Soviet Union and Unified Team to Olympic ice hockey gold at three straight Games, has died at the age of 84 in Moscow, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation said. In addition to winning gold at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, Tikhonov also won eight world championships as a coach. He was also the coach of the Soviet team that lost to the United States in the semi-final medal round of the 1980 Olympics in a game known as the "Miracle on Ice". "He passed away overnight and the three-time Olympic champion and legendary coach had been suffering from a long term illness," stated the Russian federation on its website (www.fhr.ru). (Reporting By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy; Editing by Peter)