Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan ( hy, Ալֆրեդ Տեր-Մկրտչյան, born 19 March 1971) 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 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, ...

, Unified Team, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He is an Olympic silver medalist and European Champion for the Unified Team and World Champion for Germany.

Biography

Ter-Mkrtchyan was born on 19 March 1971 in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

. In 1985, he took up Greco-Roman wrestling in Moscow and became fascinated with the sport. He won the Junior European Championships in 1990 and competed as a senior from then on. He became a member of the Soviet national Greco-Roman wrestling team soon afterward. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he won a gold medal at the 1992 European Wrestling Championships and competed for the Unified Team at 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 ...

in Barcelona. Ter-Mkrtchyan advanced to the finals, where he faced reigning Olympic Champion

Jon Rønningen Jon Rønningen (born November 28, 1962, in Oslo) is a former Norwegian wrestler and a member of Kolbotn IL (one of the largest sports clubs in Norway). He won a total of 9 medals in international championships and was the third ...

. Ter-Mkrtchyan was ahead 1-0 for most of the fight but Rønningen scored 2 points in the final seven seconds, resulting in Ter-Mkrtchyan's defeat. He won an Olympic silver medal. Ter-Mkrtchyan received

n citizenship that same year. He later went with his parents to the United States. Seeking a better wrestling environment, he got in touch with his former Soviet national teammate

Arawat Sabejew Arawat Sabejew (born 24 September 1968) is a Soviet-German Freestyle wrestler. He won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly ...

, who had been living in

. Sabejew recommended him to the German Federal Government and, in 1993, Ter-Mkrtchyan received German citizenship with the help of the Chairman of German wrestling club VfK Schifferstadt, Litzenburger Robert, who had good relations with various government authorities. Ter-Mkrtchyan was naturalized in November 1993. In Germany, he wrestled for the first for VfK Schifferstadt, but changed clubs to KSV Köllerbach. Ter-Mkrtchyan continued to have a successful wrestling career in Germany. He won a gold medal 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 ...

in Tampere. He became the first German to become a World Wrestling Champion at bantamweight (52 kg). He 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, ...

in Atlanta, but didn't win a medal. Ter-Mkrtchyan lost in the first round, but dominated Rønningen with a score of 9-0 in the second. He ended up in ninth place. Ter-Mkrtchyan returned to the Olympics a third time at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney. He made it to the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by eventual gold medalist Sim Kwon-Ho of South Korea. Ter-Mkrtchyan was ahead in the first round with a score of 3-2, but was defeated in the end by score of 4-6. He won the fifth place match afterward. His sporting ambitions were slowed by knee surgery in early 2001. He often had injury problems during the further course of his career. After failing to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics, he retired.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ter-Mkrtchyan, Alfred 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Yerevan Armenian male sport wrestlers Soviet male sport wrestlers German male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of the Unified Team Olympic wrestlers of Germany Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Unified Team Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists Armenian emigrants to Germany Soviet Armenians German people of Armenian descent European Wrestling Championships medalists