Mnatsakan Iskandaryan ( hy, Մնացական Իսկանդարյան, russian: Мнацакан Фрунзевич Искандарян, born 17 May 1967) is a former

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 ' ...

n Greco-Roman wrestler who competed for 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, ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Iskandaryan is an Olympic Champion, three-time World Champion, and two-time European Champion. He earned the rank

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 1991 and was named Honoured Coach of Russia in 2000. In 2012, Iskandaryan was inducted into the FILA Hall of Fame as the sole Greco-Roman inductee. He's the second Armenian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, after

Armen Nazaryan Armen Nazaryan ( hy, Արմեն Նազարյան, bg, Армен Назарян, born 9 March 1974) is an Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler who later represented Bulgaria. Nazaryan is a two-time Olympic Champion (1996, 2000), a three-time World C ...

Biography

Mnatsakan Iskandaryan started Greco-Roman wrestling in 1978 under the guidance of Koryun Movsesian. In 1987, he became an Espoir World Champion. Iskandaryan became a member of the USSR national Greco-Roman wrestling team in 1988. In that same year, he won a gold medal at the

Wrestling World Cup Wrestling World Cup is an international wrestling competition among teams representing member nations of the United World Wrestling (UWW) the sport's global governing body. The cups have been conducted by FILA (the UWW predecessor) every year sinc ...

team competition. Iskandaryan remained a member of the Soviet national team until the Union's fall in 1991. He won a silver medal in the 1989

European Wrestling Championships The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships ...

. In 1990, he moved to a heavier weight class, from lightweight (68 kg) to welterweight (74 kg), and won a 1990

World Wrestling Championships The World Wrestling Championships are the Amateur Wrestling World Championships organized by United World Wrestling. The Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling tournament began in 1904, and the Men's Freestyle Wrestling tournament began in 1951. The Women's ...

gold medal. In 1991, Iskandaryan became a European Champion and two-time consecutive World Champion. He repeated the European success by winning a 1992 European Championships gold medal for a consecutive second time. Ranked as the number one wrestler in his division for the past few years, Iskandaryan entered the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

as the gold medal favorite. Although Iskandaryan's home of Armenia was now independent, all of the former Soviet Olympians still competed together at the 1992 Olympic Games in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, under the Unified Team. Iskandaryan had single-handedly defeated all of his opposition, and thus claimed the Olympic gold medal and became an Olympic Champion. Iskandaryan underwent over two years of inactivity following his Olympic victory. He finally returned, now serving under the

n flag, at the

1994 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1994 World Wrestling Championships. Men's Freestyle competition were held in Istanbul, Turkey. Men's Greco-Roman competition were held in Tampere, Finland and Women's competition were held in Sofia, Bulgari ...

, where he claimed his third World Championship gold medal. Iskandaryan competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He was unable to win a medal and came in fifth place. Iskandaryan retired from wrestling after the 1996 Olympics and started coaching. As of 1996, he is the head coach of the national Greco-Roman wrestling youth team of Russia. In 2012, Iskandaryan was inducted into the FILA Hall of Fame, the sole Greco-Roman inductee. He became the second Armenian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, after

in 2007.

References

External links

*
Interview (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iskandaryan, Mnatsakan 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Gyumri Armenian wrestlers Armenian male sport wrestlers Soviet male sport wrestlers Russian male sport wrestlers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Olympic wrestlers of the Unified Team Olympic wrestlers of Russia Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists Russian wrestling coaches Honoured Coaches of Russia Soviet Armenians Russian sportspeople of Armenian descent European Wrestling Championships medalists