Robert Emmiyan (; born 15 February 1965)
is a retired
long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...
er who represented 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 ...
and
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 is the
fourth best long jumper in history. His personal best jump of 8.86 metres, which he achieved in
Tsaghkadzor
Tsaghkadzor (, ) is a resort town and urban municipal community in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It is a popular ski and health resort and one of Armenia's most important tourist destinations. It is situated on the eastern side of Mount Teghenis ...
in May 1987, is the current
European record.
Emmiyan received 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 ...
award in 1987.
An annual
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
meeting in
Artashat, Armenia, has been held in his honour since 2001 – the
Emmiyan Cup.
Biography
At age 16, Robert Emmiyan jumped 7.77 meters, the best jump in the world for his age group.
Emmiyan started competing for the
Soviet Union
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 ...
in athletics on an international level in 1981.
At the
1985 IAAF World Cup
The 4th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on October 4–6, 1985, at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra, Australia
Austr ...
, Emmiyan came in second place.
In 1986, Emmiyan won the
1986 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The 1986 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palacio de los Deportes in Madrid, Spain, on 22 and 23 February 1986. The track used at the stadium at the time was 164 metres long.Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
with a jump of 8.32 meters.
Emmiyan won the gold medal at the
1986 European Championships with a jump of 8.41 metres, setting a new
championship record. Teammate
Sergey Layevskiy was the only other man to jump over eight metres, jumping 8.01m, in a dominant victory by Emmiyan.
The inaugural politically contested
1986 Goodwill Games
The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Sov ...
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 ...
saw Emmiyan win the gold medal in the long jump and set a new
European record – 8.61 meters.
In what was a great year for Emmiyan, he had the best jump of 1986.
In 1987, Emmiyan won the
1987 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The 1987 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at Stade Couvert Régional in Liévin, France, on 21 and 22 February 1987.
Medal summary
Men
Women
Medal table
Participating nations
* (7)
* (13)
* (18)
* (1)
* (15)
* (1)
* (16) ...
again, making it his second consecutive gold medal at the championships, and set a European record for the long jump indoors – 8.49 meters.
Emmiyan participated at the
1987 European Cup and came in first place.
Emmiyan set the Cup's long jump record at 8.38 meters. This record was never surpassed and remained when the Cup became defunct in 2006.
On 22 May 1987, in the high land of
Tsaghkadzor
Tsaghkadzor (, ) is a resort town and urban municipal community in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It is a popular ski and health resort and one of Armenia's most important tourist destinations. It is situated on the eastern side of Mount Teghenis ...
(1840 meters above sea level) Emmiyan jumped 8.86 meters. At that time, it was the second best jump ever, after a record jump of
Bob Beamon
Robert Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is an American former track and field athlete, best known for his world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. By jumping , he broke the existing record by a margin of and his world r ...
(8.90 meters) in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
in 1968. Later, only
Michael Powell
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...
(8.95 meters) and
Carl Lewis
Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...
(8.87 meters) jumped farther than Emmiyan. Thus, Emmiyan's jump of 8.86 meters from 1988 is currently the fourth best jump of all time, the first 29-foot jump since
Bob Beamon
Robert Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is an American former track and field athlete, best known for his world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. By jumping , he broke the existing record by a margin of and his world r ...
's 1968 world record, and is also the current
European record.
Emmiyan won a silver medal with a score of 8.53 meters, finishing second behind Carl Lewis (8.67 meters) at the
1987 World Championships in Athletics
The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987.
Men's results
Track
1983 , 1987 , ...
in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
Emmiyan was a big medal favorite for the
1988 Olympic Games in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
. However, he got injured in the qualifying rounds and was unable to continue.
At the end of that year in December, Emmiyan's hometown of Gyumri was hit by
an earthquake that destroyed much of the city and claimed the lives of many people, including Emmiyan's father.
Emmiyan was still able to train and remain in good shape. He continued to jump over 8.20 and 8.30 meters. But the mental toll caused by the earthquake remained. Long jumping requires a great deal of focus and concentration. Emmiyan began to decline athletically and his goal of breaking the world record was fading. He claimed his life and career had "changed from what it had been before."
At the
1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships
The 1990 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on 3 and 4 March 1990. It was the last time that the event had been held annually and not biennially as it is now, as well as the last time that it was held ov ...
in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, Emmiyan won the bronze medal with a score of 8.06 meters.
Emmiyan's last major success came at the
1991 European Cup, where he came in second place.
In 1991, Emmiyan started competing for his now independent country 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 ...
. 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, with a jump of 7.76 meters he failed to qualify for the finals, finishing in 28th place. Emmiyan soon retired from competitions.
Emmiyan is now the President of the
Armenian Athletic Federation as of April 2010.
He also works as a coach at
INSEP, where he coaches French athletes
Jules Pommery and
Erwan Konaté.
Personal life
When the
1988 Armenian earthquake
The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake (), occurred on December 7 at with a surface-wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurred in the northern region of Armenia (then ...
occurred on 7 December, Emmiyan's home in the town of Gyumri was heavily damaged. His father was killed and other members of his family also perished. Emmiyan suffered psychological problems following the earthquake which weakened his mentality for long jumping.
Some time after his career ended, Emmiyan moved to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Emmiyan married a woman from the Armenian community and with her has two daughters, Fiona and Lauren.
His family speak Armenian at home and one day, Emmiyan hopes to return to Armenia. It is difficult for him to live away from his homeland, but he has more time to contribute to the development of athletics in Armenia from afar.
Achievements
See also
*
Armenian records in athletics
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmiyan, Robert
1965 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Gyumri
Soviet Armenians
Soviet male long jumpers
Armenian male long jumpers
Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union
Olympic athletes for Armenia
World Athletics Championships medalists
European Athletics Championships medalists
World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union
World Athletics Championships athletes for Armenia
Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Soviet Union
Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade
Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games