Rafael Arkadyevich Chimishkyan ( ka, რაფაელ ჩიმიშკიანი, russian: Рафаэль Аркадьевич Чимишкян; 23 March 1929 – 25 September 2022) was a weightlifter who competed for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and Olympic, World, European and Soviet Champion. Chimishkyan was awarded the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR title in 1952. He was an honorary citizen of Tbilisi.

Biography

Chimishkyan was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, Georgian SSR on 23 March 1929. He started weightlifting in 1946. In his first Soviet Championship in 1949, he won a gold medal at bantamweight (56 kg). In 1950, Chimishkyan won silver at the World Weightlifting Championships and gold at the

European Weightlifting Championships European Weightlifting Championships is an annual event organised by the European Weightlifting Federation (EWF). It has been held since 1896. A separate event for women was held from 1988 to 1997, after which both championships have been held ...

and then switched to featherweight (60 kg). He first won a silver at the Soviet Championships that year in this new category. Chimishkyan became a two-time World Champion (1954 and 1955), six-time European Champion (1950, 1952, 1954–57) and five-time USSR Champion (1949, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1960). Chimishkyan won an Olympic gold medal at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

in Helsinki. He is the second Soviet weightlifter to become an Olympic Champion."1952 Summer Olympics – Helsinki, Finland – Weightlifting"
– ''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 23 February 2008) He was the last living Olympic Champion as well as even the last living medalist in Weightlifting from the 1952 Olympics. Chimishkyan set 10 world records during his career: three in the snatch, two in the clean and jerk and five in the total.

References

External links

Rafael Chimishkyan at Lift Up
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chimishkyan, Rafael 1929 births 2022 deaths Sportspeople from Tbilisi Armenian male weightlifters Soviet male weightlifters Male weightlifters from Georgia (country) Olympic weightlifters of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1952 Summer Olympics Soviet Armenians Georgian people of Armenian descent Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR European Weightlifting Championships medalists World Weightlifting Championships medalists Ethnic Armenian sportspeople