Armen Frunzekovych Vardanyan ( hy, Արմեն Վարդանյան, uk, Армен Фрунзікович Варданян, born 30 November 1982) is an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

wrestler. He is an Olympic bronze medalist, three-time World Championships silver medalist, and two-time European Champion. He has also been awarded the Honoured Master of Sports Ukraine title.

Early life

Vardanyan was born into a family of teachers. His mother taught Russian language and literature and his father was the director of a railway technical school. Vardanyan began wrestling in his hometown of

Leninakan Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the 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 century, when the city w ...

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

(now

Gyumri Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the 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 century, when the city w ...

). After the

1988 Armenian earthquake The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...

, he moved to

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He graduated from Zaporozhye National Technical University and was a soldier of the State Border Service of Ukraine. As of 1999 he lives in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Career

Vardanyan became a Junior World Champion in 2000 in the Greco-Roman 66 kg class and began competing as a senior in the same division in 2003. He won silver medals at the

2003 European Wrestling Championships The 2003 European Wrestling Championships were held in the men's Greco-Roman in Belgrade and men's freestyle style, and the women's freestyle in Riga. Medal table Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle References ...

and

2003 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 2003 World Wrestling Championships. The Freestyle Competition was held in New York City, United States, while the Greco-Roman Competition was held in Créteil, France. Medal table Team ranking Medal su ...

. The next year he became a European Champion by winning a gold medal at the

2004 European Wrestling Championships The 2004 European Wrestling Championships were held in the men's freestyle in Ankara and men's Greco-Roman style, and the women's freestyle in Haparanda. Medal table Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle Referen ...

. He qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, but was unable to win a medal. In 2008 Vardanyan won a gold medal at the

2008 European Wrestling Championships The 2008 FILA European Wrestling Championships were held in Tampere, Finland. The event took place from 1 April to 6 April 2008. Medal table Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle External linksOfficial website

. Vardanyan returned to the Olympics in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

in Beijing and upset the reigning Olympic Champion and Azeri flag bearer

Farid Mansurov Farid Mansurov ( az, Fərid Mansurov) (born May 10, 1982 in Dmanisi, Georgia) is an Azerbaijani wrestler, gold medalist of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling at 66 kg. He retired in 2010, after conceding jaw injury dur ...

in his first match. He then lost to eventual silver medalist Kanatbek Begaliev in the quarterfinals, but rebounded with wins over Jake Deitchler and

Nikolay Gergov Nikolay Borislavov Gergov ( bg, Николай Бориславов Гергов; born March 17, 1978, in Oryahovo, Vratsa) is an amateur Bulgarian Greco-Roman wrestler, who played for the men's welterweight category. He defeated South Korea's Ki ...

in the repechage rounds to win a bronze medal. He won a second silver medal at the

2010 World Wrestling Championships The 2010 World Wrestling Championships were held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. The event took place between September 6 to September 12, 2010. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's ...

and later tried to qualify for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, but came in fourth place in the trials where only the top three wrestlers qualified. In October 2010 Vardanyan organized and hosted a Greco-Roman wrestling tournament in the youth age group. The tournament was attended by 90 children from

, who were divided into three age groups. In 2012 the tournament was held for a third time and involved 136 participants from Zaporizhzhia and

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

. That year, at the annual conference of the Association of Social Organizations, Vardanyan was named a coach of the Greco-Roman wrestling national team of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine.

Politics

In the

2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election The Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2012 took place on 28 October 2012.Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

as a member of the party

All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина", translit=Vseukrains'ke obiednannia "Bat'kivshchyna") referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by Peo ...

for the District No. 76. His revenue for the campaign was 120 thousand

hryvnia The or ( ; uk, гривня , : ''hrn''; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 . It is named after a measure of weight used in medieval Kievan Rus'. Name Etym ...

. In addition to common purposes of the united opposition, Vardanyan pledged to create a network of sports facilities and clubs to satisfy the needs of the population. He failed to be elected, taking fourth place.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vardanyan, Armen 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Gyumri Armenian male sport wrestlers Ukrainian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Ukraine Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Ukraine Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists Ukrainian people of Armenian descent European Wrestling Championships medalists