Artyom Sarkisovich Teryan (russian: Артём Саркисович Терян, 5 March 1930 – April 1970) was a Soviet

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 ...

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 was an Olympic medalist and world champion.

Biography

Teryan was born in Azerbaijan to an Armenian family from the village Banants and lost his father in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He took up wrestling in 1945, first the Armenian Kokh, and then classical wrestling. His first coach was Andrew Danielian. After graduating from school Teryan moved to

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

to study at the Baku Institute of Physical Education. He won the Soviet championships in

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

from 1950 to 1954, and since 1952 competed internationally, winning a bronze medal at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

in Helsinki in the bantamweight category (57 kg). He was a member of the first Soviet wrestling team to compete in a World Championships at the 1953 World Wrestling Championships in Naples. Teryan won the gold medal in his division, defeating Olympic Champion

Imre Hódos Imre Hódos (January 10, 1928 in Hajdúnánás – April 23, 1989 in Debrecen) was a Hungary, Hungarian wrestling, wrestler and Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. Olympics Hódos competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki wher ...

in the finals. In 1953 he became the first wrestler from Azerbaijan to win a world title. Domestically he also won the Soviet bantamweight title in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

. In 1955 he broke his

clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the rig ...

after a motorcycle accident. He retired from competitions and became a wrestling coach at his sports society Dynamo Baku. In April 1970, he was killed in a domestic dispute.

References

External links

* * * 1930 births 1970 deaths Sportspeople from Ganja, Azerbaijan Soviet male sport wrestlers Armenian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for the Soviet Union Wrestlers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists Soviet Armenians Male murder victims Ethnic Armenian sportspeople Soviet murder victims Armenian murder victims Armenian people murdered abroad People murdered in the Soviet Union People murdered in Azerbaijan {{Armenia-wrestling-bio-stub