Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan (, born 19 March 1971) is a former

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 ...

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

wrestler 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 ...

, Unified Team, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He is an Olympic silver medalist and European Champion for the Unified Team and World Champion for Germany.

Biography

Ter-Mkrtchyan was born on 19 March 1971 in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

. In 1985, he took up Greco-Roman wrestling in Moscow and became fascinated with the sport. He won the Junior European Championships in 1990 and competed as a senior from then on. He became a member of the Soviet national Greco-Roman wrestling team soon afterward. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he won a gold medal at the 1992 European Wrestling Championships and competed for the Unified Team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona. Ter-Mkrtchyan advanced to the finals, where he faced reigning Olympic Champion

Jon Rønningen Jon Rønningen (born November 28, 1962, in Oslo) is a former Norwegian wrestler and a member of Kolbotn IL (one of the largest sports clubs in Norway). He won a total of nine medals in international championships and was the ...

. Ter-Mkrtchyan was ahead 1-0 for most of the fight but Rønningen scored 2 points in the final seven seconds, resulting in Ter-Mkrtchyan's defeat. He won an Olympic silver medal. Ter-Mkrtchyan received

n citizenship that same year. He later went with his parents to the United States. Seeking a better wrestling environment, he got in touch with his former Soviet national teammate Arawat Sabejew, who had been living in

. Sabejew recommended him to the German Federal Government and, in 1993, Ter-Mkrtchyan received German citizenship with the help of the Chairman of German wrestling club VfK Schifferstadt, Litzenburger Robert, who had good relations with various government authorities. Ter-Mkrtchyan was naturalized in November 1993. In Germany, he wrestled for the first for VfK Schifferstadt, but changed clubs to KSV Köllerbach. Ter-Mkrtchyan continued to have a successful wrestling career in Germany. He won a gold medal at the 1994 World Wrestling Championships in Tampere. He became the first German to become a World Wrestling Champion at bantamweight (52 kg). He competed 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, but didn't win a medal. Ter-Mkrtchyan lost in the first round, but dominated Rønningen with a score of 9-0 in the second. He ended up in ninth place. Ter-Mkrtchyan returned to the Olympics a third time at 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 ...

in Sydney. He made it to the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by eventual gold medalist Sim Kwon-Ho of South Korea. Ter-Mkrtchyan was ahead in the first round with a score of 3-2, but was defeated in the end by score of 4-6. He won the fifth place match afterward. His sporting ambitions were slowed by knee surgery in early 2001. He often had injury problems during the further course of his career. After failing to qualify for 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 ...

, Ter-Mkrtchyan retired from competitive wrestling.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ter-Mkrtchyan, Alfred 1971 births Living people Sport wrestlers from Yerevan Armenian male sport wrestlers Soviet male sport wrestlers German male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the Unified Team Olympic wrestlers for Germany Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Unified Team Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists Armenian emigrants to Germany Soviet Armenians German people of Armenian descent European Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century German sportsmen