Hrant Shahinyan ( hy, Հրանտ Շահինյան, 30 July 1923 – 29 May 1996), also known as Grant Shaginyan, was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

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 ' ...

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. Specializing in the

still rings The rings, also known as still rings (in contrast to flying rings), is an artistic gymnastics apparatus and the event that uses it. It is traditionally used only by male gymnasts, due to its extreme upper body strength requirements. Gymnasts oft ...

and

pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

, he is a two-time Olympic Champion, two-time World Champion and seven-time USSR Champion. Shahinyan has awarded the honors

Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...

in 1952, Honored Coach of Armenia in 1961 and Honored Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of the Armenian SSR in 1966. From 1967 to 1969, he headed the Sports Committee of the Armenian SSR and from 1969 to 1975 he was the Deputy Chairman of the Sports Committee.

Early life

Hrant Shahinyan was born on 30 July 1923 in the village of Gyulagarak. His family moved to

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

in 1930. In 1943 at the age of 20, Shahinyan volunteered to fight in the front line 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 opposing ...

and received a wounded leg during service. He had to walk with a stick afterward, but after undergoing treatment in 1946 and through much hard work, was able to become a member of the USSR Artistic Gymnastic National Team.

Biography

Hrant Shahinyan began studying gymnastics under Harutyun Gargaloyana after moving to

. In 1939, he became the undisputed champion of the USSR among juniors. As a member of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

national team, Shahinyan competed 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 ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

. Shahinyan had qualified for every event. The Soviet team won the Team All-Around gold medal. Afterwards Shahinyan competed in the Individual All-Around, where he won the silver medal, coming in second to

Viktor Chukarin Viktor Ivanovich Chukarin (russian: Виктор Иванович Чукарин, uk, Віктор Іванович Чукарін; 9 November 1921 – 25 August 1984) was a Soviet gymnast. He won eleven medals including seven gold medals at ...

, who would not only prove to be Shahinyan's rival, but the most decorated Olympian of the 1952 Olympics. Shahinyan was unable to best Chukarin in the pommel horse either. He tied in second with stablemate Yevgeny Korolkov, resulting in two silver medalists. Shahinyan came in fourth place in the parallel bars. When it came time for the still rings, Shahinyan scored higher than Chukarin and the rest of the participants to win the gold medal of the event and became the Olympic Champion in rings"1952 Summer Olympics – Helsinki, Finland – Gymnastics"
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on April 4, 2008) with a score of 9.950, a score which, among the men, between 1952 and 1976, seems to have been equaled or surpassed at a World Championships or Olympics only by fellow

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

-Soviet

Albert Azaryan Albert Azaryan ( hy, Ալբերտ Ազարյան; born 11 February 1929) is a former Soviet Armenian artistic gymnast who competed internationally representing the Soviet Union. He is the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Champion on the still rings. Azaryan ...

, also on the rings, at the 1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Two years later at the 1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Shahinyan became a World Champion in the pommel horse by winning the gold medal of the event and the Soviet team won the gold medal in the Team All-Around once again. Shahinyan also won a bronze medal in the Individual All-Around. In 1958, Shahinyan founded the Youth Gymnastic Olympic Sports School in the Armenian capital

, and became the director of the sports school. In 1975, Shahinyan arrived in Damascus to manage the Syrian gymnastics national team for almost 5 years until 1980. Later, he returned to Armenia and lived there until his death in 1996.

Legacy

Shahinyan, who won two gold medals and two silver medals in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

at the

, is the first Armenian in modern Olympic history to win an Olympic medal. To highlight the level of success of Armenians in the Olympics, Shahinyan was quoted as saying: in 2014, Shahinyan's statue was erected at the entrance of the Hrant Shahinyan gymnastics school of Yerevan.

References

External links

*
Shahinyan at ArmNOC
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shahinyan, Hrant 1923 births 1996 deaths Armenian male artistic gymnasts Soviet male artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of the Soviet Union Gymnasts at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in gymnastics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Soviet Armenians Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union