Arsen Zhorayevich Galstyan (, , born 19 February 1989) is a Russian

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

. Galstyan is a Merited Master of Sports of Russia and an Olympic Champion at 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 ...

Biography

Arsen Galstyan was born on 19 February 1989 in the village of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur in north-east

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 ...

. His father was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, playing for the club Impuls FC Dilijan in the second half of the 1970s and later played as a part of

FC Ararat Yerevan Football Club Ararat Yerevan (), commonly known as Ararat Yerevan, is an Armenia, Armenian professional Association football, football club based in Yerevan that plays in the Armenian Premier League. Since 1999 the club has been owned by the Sw ...

. While living in Armenia, Galstyan played the drums in the national ensemble. When he was seven, his family moved to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and settled in the

stanitsa A stanitsa or stanitza ( ; ), also spelled stanycia ( ) or stanica ( ), was a historical administrative unit of a Cossack host, a type of Cossack polity that existed in the Russian Empire. Etymology The Russian word is the diminutive of the word ...

village of Giaginskaya,

Adygea Adygea ( ), officially the Republic of Adygea or the Adygean Republic, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is a part of the Southern Federal District, and covers an a ...

. He studied at the School № 4 of the village and started judo at a local sports club. Galstyan first played

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and then football before judo. His brothers, Arman and Tigran, also compete in judo. Igor Romanov was the first coach of Arsen and is still his personal trainer. Galstyan later moved to

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

, where he currently lives. He worked as a junior inspector of security detention center № 1 FPS in Russia's Krasnodar region. Galstyan was a student in the sports department of the

Kabardino-Balkarian State University Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU); ''Kabardino_Balkarskii gosudarstvennii universitet imeni H. M. Berbekova'', often abbreviated КБГУ, ''KBSU'') is a coeducational and public research university located in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balk ...

. In 2007, he finished third at the Russian National Championship and, in the same year, first represented Russia internationally. He has been a member of the Russian national judo team since 2007. In 2009, he became a European Champion, and in 2010 he won a bronze medal in the World Championship. Galstyan competed at the

in the Men's -60 kg division. Galstyan was an underdog and found himself fighting all of the favorites. In the semifinals, he bested Asian Champion Choi Gwang-Hyeon. Galstyan next overcame reigning two-time World Champion Rishod Sobirov, ranked number one by the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) is the international governing body for judo, founded in July 1951. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 20 million people around the globe who practice judo, accordi ...

, in the semifinals. Finally, Arsen Galstyan and Hiroaki Hiraoka fought in the finals, and Galstyan defeated Hiraoka with an

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In judo In judo, an ''ippon'' may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the ...

after 41 seconds. Galstyan scored the ippon as he was about to fall victim to an ippon of Hiraoka's. He brought Russia its first gold medal of the Olympic Games. He dedicated his victory to the victims of the flood in the Krasnodar region. R-Sport News Agency named Galstyan Russia’s second most successful athlete for 2012. He was also ranked in Russia's top ten athletes of 2012 by the Russian Sports Journalists Federation.

Personal life

In December 2010, Galstyan fought, as a sparring partner, against Russian Prime Minister

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, a black belt and former judo champion. His father was his last football coach. Arsen's two brothers, senior Tigran and junior Arman, are both masters of judo and help Arsen train. Galstyan is not married. As of 2012, Galstyan lives in the city of

. Galstyan visited Armenia after winning his Olympic gold medal and was called a hero by those in his home country, which was the most enjoyable Olympic moment for him. He still considers Armenia to be his home country, along with Russia. Armenian Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Hrachya Rostomyan congratulated Galstyan on his 2012 Olympic victory. Galstyan also urged all foreign Armenian athletes to maintain closer ties with the homeland.

Awards

*Honored Master of Sports of Russia (March 26, 2012) *Order of Friendship (13 August 2012) - for outstanding contribution to the development of physical culture and sports, high achievements in sports at the

in London, United Kingdom.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galstyan, Arsen 1989 births Living people People from Tavush Province Russian male judoka Olympic judoka for Russia Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic medalists in judo Russian sportspeople of Armenian descent Summer World University Games medalists in judo FISU World University Games silver medalists for Russia Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Ethnic Armenian sportspeople 21st-century Russian sportsmen