Armen Nazaryan (, , born 9 March 1974) is 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 ...
n
Greco-Roman wrestler who later represented
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
. Nazaryan is a two-time Olympic Champion (1996, 2000), a three-time World Champion (2002, 2003, 2005), and a six-time European Champion (1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003). After Armenia regained independence in 1991, Nazaryan became the first Olympic gold medalist for the country. He was recognized by the
FILA as the best wrestler of the year in 1998 and 2003. In 2007, Nazaryan was inducted as a member of the FILA Hall of Fame.
Early life
Nazaryan was born on 9 March 1974 in
Masis,
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 ...
. He started wrestling at the age of eight under the coaching of Robert Nersesyan and entered the Yerevan Sports School in 1987.
Career
In 1993, Nazaryan became an Espoir World Wrestling Champion and won a silver medal at the senior
1993 World Wrestling Championships. This marked the debut of
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 ...
in the
World Wrestling Championships
The World Wrestling Championships for Greco-Roman wrestling (men, since 1904) and freestyle wrestling (men since 1951, women since 1987) are organized by United World Wrestling (UWW).
Unofficial editions
Several World Greco-Roman Championships h ...
. Nazaryan had won the first ever medal for the independent Republic of Armenia at the World Wrestling Championships.
The following year, Nazaryan won a gold medal at the 1994 European Wrestling Championships, as both a senior and an espoir. Nazaryan became the first European Wrestling Champion from independent Armenia in the country's debut in 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 ...
. Turning 21 in the coming year, Nazaryan would soon become no longer eligible to compete in younger tournaments and competed only as a senior from then on.
Nazaryan repeated both the European Wrestling Championships gold medal and World Wrestling Championships silver medal in 1995, the former making him only the second European Wrestling Champion from Armenia. Because of his international success, Nazaryan was eligible to compete 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, ...
.
1996 Summer Olympics
Both Armen and his country made their debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Already a decorated sportsman, Nazaryan was one of the gold medal favorites of the competition in his weight class. He won a landslide victory in all five fights, defeating reigning World Wrestling Champion
Samvel Danielyan, who defeated Nazaryan at the 1995 World Championships final, in the quarterfinals and home country favorite
Brandon Paulson in the finals. Nazaryan became an Olympic gold medalist, the first ever Armenian athlete to become an Olympic medalist and Olympic Champion under the country's flag. He was voted the Armenian Athlete of the Year for 1996.
Over a year later, Nazaryan became a citizen of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
and began participating in international competitions for this country instead of his native Armenia. Many Armenians expressed great disappointment in their only Olympic Champion changing countries. Nazaryan would later state, “I love my country and I have always done the utmost for it. However, after I became an Olympic champion, our government didn’t appreciate me. I was offered to return to Armenia only in 2001, but my demands remained unsatisfied.”
Following the 1996 Olympics, Nazaryan moved up from the flyweight (52 kg) weight class to the heavier featherweight (58 kg) division. Nazaryan became a European Wrestling Champion in 1998 and 1999 in this new weight class. He had, however, been unable to win a World Wrestling Championship, coming in third place at every World Championship leading up to the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
. Nazaryan had also lost his European Championship in 2000, just months before the Olympics that year.
2000 Summer Olympics
After defeating three of his first four opponents via grand superiority, Nazaryan successfully advanced to the finals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he faced the larger, taller and reigning World Wrestling Champion,
Kim In-Sub. In-Sub scored a stand-up takedown (0–3) in less than thirty seconds into the match. Nazaryan quickly got on top of In-Sub and both men were ordered to get up by the referee. A period of inactivity followed, with both wrestlers struggling to overcome the other in the clinch. The referee soon ordered for them to go on the mat, with Nazaryan in the top position. After much effort, Nazaryan successfully lifted In-Sub up overhead and scored a full takedown (5–3). Nazaryan then scored another takedown by lifting up In-Sub and turning him over (6–3) and then scored an exposure (9–3) by pinning In-Sub to the mat and finishing him via fall. Nazaryan had now become a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
2004 Summer Olympics
After defending his Olympic Championship, Nazaryan moved up in weight again, this time to lightweight (60 kg). Nazaryan had a very successful 2002 and 2003, becoming a World Wrestling Champion and European Wrestling Champion in both years. It had seemed Nazaryan might become one of only a few people to become three-time Olympic Champions in wrestling, but this would not be the case. At the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
, Nazaryan was defeated by eventual Olympic gold medalist
Jung Ji-Hyun in the semifinals. Nazaryan did, however, defeat Aleksey Shevtsov in the bronze medal match to win the Olympic bronze medal, Nazaryan's third and final Olympic medal.
Despite the Olympic upset, Nazaryan won his third World Wrestling Championship gold medal in 2005. Nazaryan next competed at the 2006 World Wrestling Championships, where he was defeated in the first round in a poor performance. In 2007, Nazaryan was inducted as a member of the FILA Hall of Fame. Nazaryan made a comeback at the 2008 European Wrestling Championships, where he came in second place, thus qualifying for the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
. Although he defeated reigning World Wrestling Champion David Berdinadze in the first round, Nazaryan competed without any medal success. Nazaryan has not competed since the 2008 Olympics.
After three years of inactivity, Nazaryan returned to sports to attempt to qualify for the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. However, after receiving an injury, Nazaryan was forced to abandon any hopes of returning to the Olympics.
Post career
On 23 November 2012, Nazaryan became the head coach of the Bulgarian national Greco-Roman wrestling team. When asked if he wouldn't like to coach the Armenian national Greco-Roman wrestling team, Nazaryan praised the coaching of the Armenian national Greco-Roman wrestling head coach
Levon Julfalakyan as doing everything to give good results. Nazaryan also expressed a desire for the Armenian and Bulgarian wrestling teams to practice together.
He was named the Coach of the year (for all sports) in Bulgaria for 2013.
Personal life
Armen is married to Inga Nazaryan. He has two sons and one daughter. His son
Edmond Nazaryan also competes in Greco-Roman wrestling and in 2020 he won the gold medal in the
55 kg event at the
2020 European Wrestling Championships held in Rome, Italy.
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazaryan, Armen
1974 births
Living people
People from Masis
Bulgarian male sport wrestlers
Armenian male sport wrestlers
Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic wrestlers for Armenia
Olympic wrestlers for Bulgaria
Olympic gold medalists for Armenia
Olympic gold medalists for Bulgaria
Olympic bronze medalists for Bulgaria
Olympic medalists in wrestling
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
World Wrestling Championships medalists
Bulgarian wrestling coaches
National team coaches
Armenian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria
Bulgarian people of Armenian descent
Naturalised citizens of Bulgaria
European Wrestling Championships medalists
20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen
21st-century Bulgarian sportsmen