Mel Daluzyan ( hy, Մել Դալուզյան, born 20 April 1988 in

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 ...

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

), is a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

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 ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

. He received the Honoured Master of Sports of Armenia title in 2006.

Biography

Mel Daluzyan started weight training in 2002 under the leadership of Artashes Nersisyan, competing in women's categories as Meline Daluzyan prior to his gender transition. His parents opposed his passion at first but later became proud of their son's achievements. He became an Armenian Champion seven times. In 2005 and 2006, Daluzyan won the Junior European Championship twice. Daluzyan won a bronze medal at the

2006 World Weightlifting Championships The 2006 World Weightlifting Championships were held at the Handball Pavilion and Weightlifting Pavilion Dr. José Joaquín Puello in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The event took place from September 30 to October 7, 2006. Medal summary M ...

. He became the first weightlifter from Armenia to win a World medal in the female category. The next year, Daluzyan won a gold medal at the

2007 European Weightlifting Championships The 2007 European Weightlifting Championships were held in Strasbourg, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories i ...

and became the first Armenian individual to become a European Champion in weightlifting. He repeated this success at the

2008 European Weightlifting Championships The 2008 European Weightlifting Championships were held in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy from 11 to 20 April 2008. It was the 87th edition of the event, which was first staged in 1896. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Ranking by Big (Total r ...

, becoming a two-time European Champion. Daluzyan was set to compete at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, but he suffered an acute attack of

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

two weeks before the Olympics and was forced to withdraw from the competition. He was substituted by Hripsime Khurshudyan. In 2010, Daluzyan won a silver medal at the

2010 European Weightlifting Championships The 2010 European Weightlifting Championships was held in Minsk, Belarus from 2 April to 11 April 2010. It was the 89th edition of the event, which was first staged in 1896. Medals tables Ranking by all medals: "Big" (Total result) and "Sma ...

and a bronze medal at the

2010 World Weightlifting Championships The 2010 World Weightlifting Championships were held at Antalya Expo Center in Antalya, Turkey. The event took place from September 17 to September 26, 2010. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Ranking by Big (Total result) medals Ranki ...

. He finally made his Olympic debut 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 ...

but was unable to set a total. In May 2019, following reanalysis of his samples from the 2012 Olympics, which tested positive for

dehydrochlormethyltestosterone Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (CDMT; brand name Oral Turinabol), also known as 4-chloro-17β-hydroxy17α-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one, is an anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS). It is the 4-chloro-substituted derivative of metandienone (dehy ...

metabolites and

stanozolol Stanozolol (Abbreviation, abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceuti ...

metabolites, Daluzyan was disqualified from the Olympic Games.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daluzyan, Mel 1988 births Living people World Weightlifting Championships medalists Sportspeople from Gyumri Olympic weightlifters of Armenia Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Armenian female weightlifters Armenian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting European champions in weightlifting European champions for Armenia LGBT weightlifters European Weightlifting Championships medalists