Norayr (Norik) Vardanyan ( hy, Նորայր Վարդանյան, born 15 May 1987 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 an

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 ...

n and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

. Norayr is the son of legendary Soviet weightlifter Yurik Vardanyan (1956-2018). Vardanian initially won the bronze medal in the 94 kg class at the 2009 Pan American Weightlifting Championships but was later disqualified after testing positive for

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

. He competed for Armenia in the 94 kg weight class 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 ...

where he placed 11th. He was also the Silver Medalist at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

. On 6 October 2016, the IWF reported that as a consequence of the IOC's reanalyses of samples from the 2012 Olympic Games, a sample produced by Norayr Vardanyan, who represented Armenia, had returned a positive result. In line with the relevant rules and regulations, the IWF imposed a mandatory provisional suspension upon Vardanyan, who will remain provisionally suspended until his case is closed. On 12 January 2017 it was confirmed that because of a doping violation he had been disqualified from the 2012 Olympic Games.

References

External links

Sports-Reference.com
1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Gyumri Armenian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Armenia Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics American male weightlifters Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in weightlifting Armenian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games {{Armenia-weightlifting-bio-stub