Oksen Mirzoyan ( hy, Օգսեն Միրզոյան, born 11 June 1961) is a former Soviet Armenian

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 lif ...

and European, World and Olympic Champion. Mirzoyan was awarded the

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 ...

title in 1984 and the Honored Coach of Armenia title in 1998.

Biography

He was born in the village of Angeghakot, Sisian Oblast, Armenian SSR. In 1965, his family moved to the village Baghramyan,

Echmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

region. In 1977, he began weight training under the guidance of Ashot Vilasyana. In the following year, he was able to perform with the normal masters of sports of the USSR. In 1981, Mirzoyan became a member of the USSR national weightlifting team. Mirzoyan became a European and World Champion in 1983 by winning gold medals at the 1983 World Weightlifting Championships and 1983 European Weightlifting Championships, both in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. In the course of both the competitions, Mirzoyan set new world records in the snatch, clean and jerk and the total exercise, all in the bantamweight (56 kg) division. Due to the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott, Mirzoyan was unable to participate that year. As the reigning World Champion, he would have been the favorite to win the Olympic gold medal. In early 1988, Mirzoyan's rival Neno Terziyski failed a doping test, resulting in a ban from weightlifting. At the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, Mirzoyan came in second place, behind the original first-place winner Mitko Grablev. However, Grablev also tested positive for doping and was disqualified. Thus, the title of Olympic Champion and the Olympic gold medal went on to Oksen Mirzoyan. Oksen Mirzoyan completed his weightlifting career in 1991 and later took up coaching and sports officiating. He became the head coach of the Armenian national weightlifting team. Mirzoyan was also the Chairman of the Armenian Weightlifting Federation from 1998 to 2004. As of 2004, Mirzoyan is the vice-president of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia and the director of the Yerevan School Sports in weightlifting. Mirzoyan was reelected one of the vice-presidents of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia on 9 March 2013.

Personal life

Mirzoyan coaches his son, European Champion and Vice-World Champion Arakel Mirzoyan, who followed in his father's footsteps and took up weightlifting. Arakel competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for

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 ' ...

. Oksen has also coached his nephew, Arayik Mirzoyan, who is also a weightlifter.

Other weightlifting achievements

* Senior world champion (1983); * Silver medalist in Senior World Championships (1982 & 1985); * Bronze medalist in Senior World Championships, senior European champion (1983); * Silver medalist in European Championships (1982, 1985, 1986); * Set fourteen world records during career.

References

External links

Oksen Mirzoyan at Lift UpOksen Mirzoyan – Hall of Fame at Weightlifting Exchange
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirzoyan, Oksen 1961 births Living people People from Syunik Province Soviet male weightlifters Armenian male weightlifters Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Olympic weightlifters of the Soviet Union Weightlifters at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in weightlifting Dynamo sports society athletes Soviet Armenians Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Armenian sports executives and administrators European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists Ethnic Armenian sportspeople