Aghasi Manukyan (, 27 February 1967 – 19 March 2018) was an

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

wrestler. He was a World Cup winner and World Champion. Manukyan earned the

Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR Unified All-Russian Sports Classification () is a system which regulates the Russian physical education system requirements for both athletes and coaches. History In the Soviet period Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR () exist ...

Master of Sports of International Class title in 1987.

Biography

Aghasi Manukyan was born 27 February 1967 in Leninakan (now

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

. He started wrestling in 1977 under the coaching of Aram Sargsyan. In 1984 he won the Espoir European Championships and in 1987 he won the Espoir World Championships. Manukyan was recruited into the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

national Greco-Roman wrestling team in 1988. That same year, he came in first place at the

Wrestling World Cup Wrestling World Cup is an international wrestling competition among teams representing member nations of the United World Wrestling (UWW) the sport's global governing body. The cups have been conducted by FILA (the UWW predecessor) every year sin ...

team competition. After

gained its independence from the Soviet Union, Manukyan began representing his native country. Manukyan won a gold medal at the

1993 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1993 World Wrestling Championships. Men's freestyle competition were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Men's Greco-Roman competition were held in Stockholm, Sweden and Women's competition were held in Stave ...

in his debut as an Armenian wrestler. Manukyan was the first ever wrestler from the independent Armenia to become a Wrestling World Champion in either Greco-Roman or freestyle wrestling. He was also the second athlete to become a World Champion under the flag of Armenia, after Nshan Munchyan. Manukyan won two silver medals at the

European Wrestling Championships The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships ...

in 1994 and 1995. He also competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. In 1996, he finished his wrestling career and began coaching. Manukyan coached the Armenian national junior Greco-Roman wrestling team from 1998 to 1999. From 2001 to 2004, he worked in the Sports Committee of the

Shirak region Shirak (, ) is a provinces of Armenia, province () of Armenia. It is located in the north-west of the country, bordering the provinces of Lori Province, Lori to the east and Aragatsotn Province, Aragatsotn to the south and southeast, and the cou ...

of Armenia. In 2006, he moved to the United States. After 2011, he worked at the Olympic training center located in Marquette.

Personal life

Aghasi has two brothers who are also wrestlers. His brother Michael (born 1964) was a Soviet Champion and European Youth Champion of the USSR in Greco-Roman wrestling and his brother Samvel (born 1974) was a Champion of Armenia and fellow Olympian at the

References

External links

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Aghasi Manukyan
at Northern Michigan University - National Training Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Manukyan, Aghasi 1967 births 2018 deaths Sport wrestlers from Gyumri Soviet male sport wrestlers Armenian male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers for Armenia World Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Championships medalists