Stepan Sarkisyan (, born 15 September 1962) is a former

Soviet 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 ...

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 Freestyle wrestler. He's an Olympic silver medalist and European Champion and was awarded 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 ...

title in 1988.

Biography

Stepan was born on 15 September 1962 in the village of Shamut,

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 ...

. In 1976, his family moved to

Vanadzor Vanadzor (, ) is an urban municipal community and the third largest city in Armenia, serving as the capital of Lori Province in the northern part of the country. It is located about north of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the city h ...

, where he started freestyle wrestling under teacher Hakob Gendzhyana. In 1981, he won the Junior World Championship. Sarkisyan joined the USSR national freestyle wrestling team in 1984. That same year, he won a gold medal 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, defeating American Lee Roy Smith in the finals. Sarkisyan had a very successful career year in 1988, first when he became the Soviet Union Champion. Sarkisyan later won a gold medal at the 1988

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 ...

. As the European Champion, Sarkisyan qualified for participation at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul. Sarkisyan easily and dominantly defeated all of his competition up to the finals, where he faced John Smith, younger brother of Lee Roy. Sarkisyan was unable to defeat Smith. He was awarded the Olympic silver medal. The next year, Sarkisyan won his second gold medal at the Wrestling World Cup, defeating John Smith in a rematch in the finals, just as he had done to his brother five years ago. Sarkisyan competed at the 1989 World Wrestling Championships, but lost to Smith early in the tournament, resulting in Sarkisyan coming in sixth place. He won a silver medal in the

1990 Goodwill Games The 1990 Goodwill Games was the second edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held between July 20 and August 5, 1990. Following an inaugural edition in Moscow, the second games took place in Seattle, Unit ...

in Seattle. Sarkisyan left the Soviet national team in 1990 and, in 1991, he completed his wrestling career. He later worked as a sports official in now independent Armenia. A freestyle wrestling international tournament dedicated to Stepan Sarkisyan takes place in Sarkisyan's hometown of

as of 1996. Wrestlers from Armenia,

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 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

are invited to compete. Sarkisyan was president of the Wrestling Federation of Armenia from 1998 to 2002, and in 2002, was made the honorary president.

References

External links

Sports-Reference.com
*Миндиашвили Д.Г. Антология вольной борьбы: даты, события, имена. — Красноярск, 2010. — 367 с. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkisyan, Stepan 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Vanadzor Soviet male sport wrestlers Armenian male sport wrestlers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union Wrestlers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Soviet Armenians Armenian sports executives and administrators Goodwill Games medalists in wrestling European Wrestling Championships medalists Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games