Arsen Julfalakyan (, born 8 May 1987) 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 style wrestler, Olympic silver medalist, World and European Champion, World Cup winner and three-time Olympian.

Early life

Julfalakyan was born in the city of 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 ...

. He is the son of renowned European, World and Olympic Champion, Armenian national Greco-Roman wrestling team head coach Levon Julfalakyan. Under the guidance of his father, Arsen began wrestling at age 11.

Career

In the years 2001, 2003, and 2004, Julfalakyan won the Junior Armenian Championship, and won the Cadet European Championships in 2003 and 2004 and the Junior World Championships in 2007. Arsen, age 21, competed at 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 ...

. He was eliminated in his second match, coming in tenth place. Julfalakyan was a member of the Armenian Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 2009 Wrestling World Cup. The Armenian team came in third place. Julfalakyan personally won a bronze medal. Julfalakyan won the gold medal at the 2009 European Wrestling Championships in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and the silver medal in the 2010 World Wrestling Championships in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Julfalakyan was a member of the Armenian Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 2010 Wrestling World Cup. The Armenian team came in third place. Julfalakyan personally won a gold medal. Arsen made his Olympic return 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 ...

. He advanced to the finals without losing a single point, but faced defeat in the finals against Roman Vlasov in a tensely contested match. Vlasov called Julfalakyan his idol afterwards. Julfalakyan won an Olympic silver medal, the first Olympic silver medal won by an Armenian representative in sixteen-years. At the closing ceremony, Julfalakyan was the flag bearer of Armenia. Julfalakyan was voted the Armenian Athlete of the Year for 2012. Julfalakyan won the gold medal at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships, the first for Armenia in Greco-Roman wrestling in 13 years. In the 2014 Grapple at the Garden in New York City, Julfalakyan defeated 4-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake in a Greco-Roman match. He won the "Dan Kolov and Nikola Petrov" international tournament in Sofia on 24 April and dedicated his victory to the victims of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

on the 100th anniversary, wearing a shirt commemorating the 1.5 million victims during the medal presentation. He competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

but lost in the first round and didn't move onto the repechage. In 2024, he competed at the Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico hoping to qualify for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris, France. Due to a serious injury(tendon retraction), he was eliminated in his second match.

Personal life

Julfalakyan got married on 27 August 2012 in the St. Gevorg Church in Mughni. Arsen studied at Yerevan State University and received an

International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

faculty master's degree and PhD in History. In 2021 Arsen Julfalakyan was elected as a Chairman of the United World Wrestling Athletes’ Commission. He serves also as UWW Bureau Member. The Athletes' Commission was established in 2013 with the role of protecting the rights and interests of all United World Wrestling Olympic style athletes. The Athletes' Commission members reach out and communicate with active athletes as peers to collect feedback.

Awards

Julfalakyan was awarded the "For Merit" 2nd degree medal in 2012 and the "For Service to Fatherland" 1st degree medal in 2014.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Julfalakyan, Arsen 1987 births Living people Sport wrestlers from Gyumri Yerevan State University alumni Armenian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Armenia Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Armenia Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists Summer World University Games medalists in wrestling FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Armenia European Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Ethnic Armenian sportspeople