David Safaryan ( hy, Դավիթ Սաֆարյան; born 1 August 1989) is an Armenian and Russian

Freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

wrestler and World and European Champion.

Biography

Safaryan was born on 1 August 1989 in Cherkessk, Russia. He began wrestling since childhood in his father's initiative, who had the title of Master of Sports in wrestling. Since 2003, he trained in Krasnodar under Abdulla Magomedov. From 2006 to 2009, he was a member of the cadet and junior national team of Russia, becoming a Cadet European Champion in 2006 and 2007 and a Junior World Championships silver medalist in 2009. Later, Safaryan decided to compete for Armenia, where he began to train under the head coach of the Armenian freestyle wrestling team Araik Baghdadyan. His first success at the senior international level came when he won a bronze medal at the 2012 European Wrestling Championships. Shortly thereafter, he competed at 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 ...

in London, but was unable to win a medal due to controversial refereeing while facing Kazakh Akzhurek Tanatarov in the quarterfinals, amid a number of other controversial Kazakhstan victories. He won a gold medal at the

2013 European Wrestling Championships The 2013 European Wrestling Championships were held in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 19 March to 24 March 2013. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Women's freestyle (*) Romanian original silver medalli ...

in Tbilisi. Safaryan is the first Armenian to become a European Champion in freestyle wrestling in nine years. Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili came up and congratulated David afterwards. At the

2013 Summer Universiade The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade (russian: XXVII Летняя Универсиада), was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 un ...

in Kazan, he won a silver medal. Later that year Safaryan also won the gold medal at the

2013 World Wrestling Championships The 2013 World Wrestling Championships was the 9th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and were held from September 16 to 22 in Budapest, Hungary. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco- ...

in Budapest, taking revenge on Tanatarov in the quarterfinals and defeating Cuban

Liván López Liván López Azcuy (born January 24, 1982) is a male freestyle wrestler from Cuba who competes in the 66 kg category. In 2011, he won a gold medal at the Pan American Games and a bronze medal at the 2011 World Wrestling Championships. The next ...

, another 2012 Olympic medalist, in the finals. Safaryan was named the Armenian Athlete of the Year for 2013 by vote conducted by the Republican Federation of Sports Journalists of Armenia. He also competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

References

External links

* * 1989 births Living people People from Cherkessk Armenian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Armenia Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Russian people of Armenian descent European Games competitors for Armenia Wrestlers at the 2015 European Games World Wrestling Championships medalists Universiade medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Universiade silver medalists for Armenia European Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade {{Armenia-sport-bio-stub