David Safaryan ( hy, Դավիթ Սաֆարյան; born 1 August 1989) 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 and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n Freestyle wrestler and World and European Champion.

Biography

Safaryan was born on 1 August 1989 in

Cherkessk Cherkessk (russian: Черке́сск) is the capital city of Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, as well as its political, economic, and cultural center. Population: It was previously known as ''Batalpashinskaya'' (until 1931), ''Batalpashinsk'' (un ...

. He began wrestling since childhood in his father's initiative, who had the title of Master of Sports in wrestling. Since 2003, he trained in

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

under Abdulla Magomedov. From 2006 to 2009, he was a member of the cadet and junior national team of Russia, becoming a Cadet European Champion in 2006 and 2007 and a Junior World Championships silver medalist in 2009. Later, Safaryan decided to compete for

, where he began to train under the head coach of the Armenian freestyle wrestling team Araik Baghdadyan. His first success at the senior international level came when he won a bronze medal at the

2012 European Wrestling Championships The 2012 European Wrestling Championships were held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 8 March to 11 March 2012.https://web.archive.org/web/20120311105538/http://www.fila-official.com/sites/ultimate2/index.php Medal table Team ranking Medal summary ...

. Shortly thereafter, he competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but was unable to win a medal due to controversial refereeing while facing Kazakh

Akzhurek Tanatarov Akzhurek Dostykuly Tanatarov ( kz, Ақжүрек Достықұлы Таңатаров; born 3 September 1986) is a Kazakh freestyle wrestler. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he was defeated in the semifinal round of the 66 kg freestyle event ...

in the quarterfinals, amid a number of other controversial Kazakhstan victories. He won a gold medal at the 2013 European Wrestling Championships in Tbilisi. Safaryan is the first Armenian to become a European Champion in freestyle wrestling in nine years. Prime Minister of Georgia

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili ( ka, ბიძინა ივანიშვილი, also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili ; born 18 February 1956) is a Georgian politician, billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who served as Prime Minist ...

came up and congratulated David afterwards. At the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, he won a silver medal. Later that year Safaryan also won the gold medal at the

2013 World Wrestling Championships The 2013 World Wrestling Championships was the 9th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and were held from September 16 to 22 in Budapest, Hungary. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco- ...

in Budapest, taking revenge on Tanatarov in the quarterfinals and defeating Cuban Liván López, another 2012 Olympic medalist, in the finals. Safaryan was named the Armenian Athlete of the Year for 2013 by vote conducted by the Republican Federation of Sports Journalists of Armenia. He also competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

* * 1989 births Living people People from Cherkessk Armenian male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Armenia Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Russian people of Armenian descent European Games competitors for Armenia Wrestlers at the 2015 European Games World Wrestling Championships medalists Universiade medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Universiade silver medalists for Armenia European Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade {{Armenia-sport-bio-stub