Armen Mkrtchyan ( hy, Արմեն Մկրտչյան; born 6 October 1973) 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 ' ...

n freestyle

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

. He is an Olympic silver medalist, World Championships medalist, and European Champion. In addition, he was also awarded the Master of Sport of the USSR, International Class title in 1991 and the Honored Master of Sports of Armenia title in 1996.

Biography

Mkrtchyan began his wrestling career under the guidance of Razmik Karapetyan and, in 1992 and for the rest of his career, under Yuri Babayan and Grant Yenokyan. Armen was a member of the

USSR 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 nationa ...

national wrestling team as a junior. In 1990, he won the Junior World Wrestling Championship gold medal at the age of 18. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, he represented

at international competitions. He won the 1992 Espoir European Championships and 1993 Espoir World Championships. In 1994, Armen won a gold medal at the

European Wrestling Championships The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships ...

in Rome. He became the first European Wrestling Champion of the independent Republic of Armenia in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestli ...

. Mkrtchyan won a bronze medal at the

1995 World Wrestling Championships The following is the final results of the 1995 World Wrestling Championships. Men's Freestyle Competition were held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Men's Greco-Roman Competition were held in Prague, Czech Republic and Women's Competition were ...

in Atlanta, the first medal won by a freestyle wrestler of Armenia. Because Mkrtchyan had ranked in the top six wrestlers of his division, he received automatic qualification to return to Atlanta in a year's time to compete 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, ...

. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Mkrtchyan reached the finals, where he faced off against the division reigning Olympic Champion Kim Il of North Korea. Mkrtchyan and Kim both put up a bitter struggle in a back and forth match. In the end, Mkrtchyan lost by one point, 4–5. This had been the closest to defeat Kim had come to in five years. Mkrtchyan became the first ever Olympic silver medalist from Armenia. In 1997, Mkrtchyan moved up to a heavier weight class, moving from paperweight (48 kg) to flyweight (54 kg). He was unable to qualify for 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 ...

. After winning a bronze medal at the 2001 European Wrestling Championships, Mkrtchyan retired.

References

Mkrtchyan vs Kim, 1996 Olympics
video at

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mkrtchyan, Armen 1973 births Living people People from Vedi Armenian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Armenia Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Armenia Olympic medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics World Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Championships medalists