I was born in 1970 in the city of Kharkov, Ukraine. Since the age of 13 I was involved in sprint cycling (track). I was racing at an international level until 1989. In 1986-87 I was training with the Centre of Olympic Preparation (TsOP) "Sprint" in Moscow and TsOP "Kharkov" between 1987-89. During this time I was studying towards my high school diploma at the Kharkov State Sport Boarding School. Training of elite athletes in the Soviet Union was taken seriously and, with up to 3 training sessions per day, there was not much time left for anything else. During my cycling career, I won several Championships of Ukraine, the "all-union" (between the states of the Soviet Union) and international competitions in Eastern Europe.

My first coach in cycling was Alla Stepanovna Salenko, who trained me between 1983 and 1986. Three times world champion and world record holder, Irina Ivanovna Kirichenko and her husband Igor Ivanovich Chislov were my mentors between 1986 and 1989. Igor Ivanovich have made it possible for me to become an elite athlete. He fostered many international class athletes during his coaching career. His memory will always have a special place in my heart. He lost his battle to cancer in 1999.

After a 2 year break, I resumed racing in Australia in 1992 under the Queensland Academy of Sports' coach Peter Day. I continued racing until 1994, when I started my studies in mathematics at Griffith University.

In 1999 I discovered Wing Chun Kung Fu when I joined the Canberra Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy. My Sifu is Allan Graham, whom I respect as a teacher and friend.

In In September 2000 I visited Stanley Markets, during my training with Sifu Wan Kam Leung in Hong Kong. I ordered a jade stamp with Chinese spelling of my name on it from one of the shops there. After lengthy explanation of the correct spelling of my name (Alex Sobolev), the stamp that came out looked as shown on the picture above (Reads "Alex So").