Klimov was a member of the Soviet Union men's team that won gold at Montreal 1976.

His death, which happened on Monday (October 17), was announced by his former club, CSKA Moscow.

"At the age of 82, the famous domestic handball player and one of the founders of our club, Yuri Mikhailovich Klimov, passed away," CSKA Moscow said on social media channel Telegram.

"CSKA expresses its condolences to the family and friends of Yuri Mikhailovich."

Klimov played a total of 173 matches for the Soviet Union national team.

At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, he was part of the Soviet team which finished fifth, playing in all six matches, and scored seven goals.

Four years later he was part of the team that beat Romania 19-15 in the gold-medal match at the Montreal Forum.

Klimov played in all six of the Soviet Union matches and scored 12 goals.

Following Montreal 1976, Klimov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the third-highest civil award in the Soviet Union, after the Order of Lenin and the Order of the October Revolution.

In 1978, Klimov won a silver medal at the World Championship in Denmark, when the Soviet Union were beaten 20-19 by West Germany in the final.

As well as his success internationally, Klimov was part of the CSKA team that lifted the Soviet title seven times and won the European Champions Cup in 1973 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1977.

After his career finished, Klimov started coaching and worked with the Soviet Union youth team between 1980 and 1982.

He later coached abroad and led Iran to a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

In August 2020, Klimov's former team-mate and fellow Montreal 1976 gold medallist Anatoly Fedyukin died at the age of 68.