Rafael Arutyunyan ( hy, Ռաֆայել Հարությունյան, ''Harutyunyan''; russian: Рафаэль Владимирович Арутюнян; born July 5, 1957) is an Armenian-American figure skating coach. He has coached in Armenia, Russia and the United States.

Personal life

Arutyunyan was born on July 5, 1957, in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, and studied in Yerevan,

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

at the

Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport ( hy, Հայաստանի ֆիզիկական կուլտուրայի և սպորտի պետական ինստիտուտ) is a higher educational institution institute, located in Yerevan, Armenia ...

. Arutyunyan's mother brought him to an ice rink after watching figure skating on television; he was skating regularly in Tbilisi by the age of seven. He is married to a skating coach, Vera, and moved to the United States in 2000. They have a son – a pianist born in the mid-1980s, and a daughter, who is an artist. On July 23, 2019, Arutyunyan and his wife became

U.S. citizens Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitut ...

Coaching career

He coached young skaters in Yerevan from 1976. In the 1980–1981 season, one of his students, Saak Mkhitarian, became the Soviet junior champion and placed 6th at the World Junior Championships. Soviet officials then invited Arutyunyan to Moscow, where he worked on his teaching certification and became an assistant to Tatiana Tarasova. Around 2000 or 2001, Arutyunyan joined the Ice Castle International Training Center, in Lake Arrowhead, California. In August 2013, he relocated to the East West Ice Palace in Artesia, California. He collaborates with his wife, Vera Arutyunyan, and Nadezda Kanaeva. He moved to Lakewood ICE in Lakewood, California on June 25, 2016. In 2019, he took on the role of Head Coach for Higher Performance Team at Great Park Ice & Fivepoint Arena in Irvine, California. His current students include: * Nathan Chen (2011 – present), 2022 Olympic Champion, 2018, 2019 and 2021 World champion, 2018 Olympic team bronze medalist, 2017–2022 U.S. national champion, 2017–2019 Grand Prix Final champion and 2017 4CC champion. * Mandy Chiang *

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arutyunyan, Rafael Armenian figure skaters Figure skating coaches Sportspeople from Tbilisi 1957 births Living people Soviet figure skaters Georgian people of Armenian descent People from Artesia, California Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport alumni