Tikhonov began gymnastics when he was six years old. He decided to switch his nationality to Azerbaijan at the recommendation of a coach, because he was only the reserve for the junior Russian national team. This change was approved by the
International Gymnastics Federation in July 2018. Tikhonov made his debut for Azerbaijan at the
2019 European Championships and finished 21st in the all-around final. He then won a bronze medal on the
pommel horse at the
2019 Osijek World Challenge Cup, behind
Robert Seligman and
Nikolai Kuksenkov. At the
2019 European Games, he finished 14th in the
all-around final, and was the second reserve for the vault final. He also advanced into the all-around final at the
2019 Summer Universiade and finished 11th. At the
2019 World Championships in
Stuttgart, he finished 48th in the all-around during the qualification round and
qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games. Tikhonov finished eighth in the all-around at the
2021 European Championships. At the
2021 Varna World Challenge Cup, he won a bronze medal on the vault, behind
Nazar Chepurnyi and
Marian Drăgulescu. He then represented Azerbaijan and the postponed-
2020 Summer Olympics and finished 45th in the all-around during the qualification round and did not advance into any finals. Tikhonov initially finished fourth on the
parallel bars at the
2022 Doha World Cup. However,
Ivan Kuliak was stripped of his bronze medal after being sanctioned for wearing
pro-war symbolism on the medal podium. He advanced to the vault final at the
2022 European Championships and finished sixth. He then competed at the
2021 Islamic Solidarity Games, held in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He won the silver medal in the all-around behind Turkey's
Adem Asil. In the event finals, he won the gold medal on the vault and the bronze medal on the horizontal bar. Additionally, he finished seventh on the floor exercise, fifth on the pommel horse, fourth on the
still rings, and seventh on the parallel bars. ==See also==