2024-03-09 09:30:33
With two Olympic titles and 16 medals from the world and European championships, the “classic” is one of the greatest in the history of world wrestling
Armen Nazaryan – one of the greatest athletes in the history of world wrestling, turns 50 today. The anniversary of the famous champion in the classic style is an occasion to recall his most memorable successes in his remarkable sports career.
Two-time Olympic champion (in Atlanta 1996 for Armenia and in Sydney 2000 for Bulgaria), bronze at the Athens 2004 Olympics, fifth at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, gold at the Moscow 2002 World Championships, Crete 2003 and Budapest 2005, silver at the Stockholm 1993 World Championships. (for Armenia) and Prague 1995 (for Armenia), bronze from the World Wroclaw 1997 and Jevle 1998, European champion from Athens 1994 (for Armenia), Besançon 1995 (for Armenia), Minsk 1998, Sofia 1999, Seynajoki 2000 and Belgrade 2003, silver at the European Championships Budapest 1996 (for Armenia), Moscow 2000 and Tampere 2008.
Twice named by FILA as Wrestler No. 1 on the planet in the classic style (1998 and 2003). He was inducted into the USA Hall of Fame in 2005 while still competing.
Armen Nazaryan is one of the greatest in the world wrestling army.
The Bulgarian Olympic Committee congratulates Armen Nazaryan on his anniversary, wishing him health, strength and many more life victories.
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(excerpt from the book “BULGARIA ON OLYMPUS”)
Armen Nazaryan
James Bond in the struggle
…At the beginning of his career, Armen weighed a little over 30 kilograms, but even then he impressed with explosive power, flexibility and speed. After only 2 years in the gym, the kids in his group joke that he peels his opponents off the mat like a faucet. And the specialists in the country realized already at the end of the 1980s that they had a diamond in their hands, which in time would prove to be priceless. In 1987, Nazaryan was admitted to the sports school of Yerevan, then he passed through the higher sports school in Moscow, and this opened a highway for him to the world’s tops.
Atlanta somersault title
Atlanta’s Nazarian’s first Olympic gold becomes historic for Armenia. In 1996, he brought his country his debut Olympiad honor and became the first champion under the sign of the five intertwined circles in the annals of this country.
The path of the great wrestler to the top in Atlanta is significant. Three months before the games, Armen dramatically missed out on winning a European title after losing in the final to Andrii Kalashnikov. Ironically, the draw of the Olympics met him in the first round with the Ukrainian. Nazaryan’s comeback is mind-blowing: 10:0! In the quarterfinals, another merciless rematch follows, this time against current world champion Samvel Danelyan (Russia), who defeated him in the title match of the planet championship a year earlier. Armen had no problems until the Olympic final, where he also ran over the American Brendan Paulson with 5:1. Next is his time-famous somersault of triumph, performed for the first time on the Olympic carpet. But not for the last…
A year after Atlanta, the champion decided to continue his competitive and life path in Bulgaria. The person who attracted the famous wrestler to Sofia is businessman Grisha Ganchev, long-time president of BF wrestling. And this is a top ten hit. At the very next Olympics, Armen won gold for Bulgaria. It was Sydney 2000 that was his ultimate triumph, when he achieved the most spectacular victory in the finals of the tournament. Until the battle for gold, Nazarian overcame Nepez Gyukyulov (Turkmenistan) on points and Brett Kash (Australia), Makoto Sasamoto (Japan) and Rifat Yaldiz (Germany) with clear superiority.
For the finals, the hall turns out to be cramped for journalists, who push to see the first wrestler in history with a fourth Olympic title. Alas, the legendary Russian Alexander Karelin lost to Rulon Gardner (USA), but consolation for the media was Armen’s impressive 2:34 centur grapple pinfall against Kim Sub (Korea). Nazarian’s crown grapple gained worldwide fame as in the media it was announced among the Top 10 “Olympic moments”. And for the fans, the performance is simply … “throw from the second floor”. Here already the somersault of triumph is performed twice… Personally, the Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch, the then president of the International Olympic Committee, congratulates the ace of the Bulgarian team after the fight.. .
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The full story of Armen Nazaryan’s amazing career and all the statistics of his titles, medals and records can be found in the encyclopedia “BULGARIA ON OLYMPUS” with authors Vladimir Pamukov, Todor Shabanski and Bonchuk Andonov.