Mel Daluzyan ( hy, Մել Դալուզյան, born 20 April 1988 in Leninakan, Armenian SSR), is a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

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 ' ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...

. He received the Honoured Master of Sports of Armenia title in 2006.

Biography

Mel Daluzyan started weight training in 2002 under the leadership of Artashes Nersisyan, competing in women's categories as Meline Daluzyan prior to his gender transition. His parents opposed his passion at first but later became proud of their son's achievements. He became an Armenian Champion seven times. In 2005 and 2006, Daluzyan won the Junior European Championship twice. Daluzyan won a bronze medal at the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships. He became the first weightlifter from Armenia to win a World medal in the female category. The next year, Daluzyan won a gold medal at the 2007 European Weightlifting Championships and became the first Armenian individual to become a European Champion in weightlifting. He repeated this success at the 2008 European Weightlifting Championships, becoming a two-time European Champion. Daluzyan was set to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but he suffered an acute attack of

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

two weeks before the Olympics and was forced to withdraw from the competition. He was substituted by Hripsime Khurshudyan. In 2010, Daluzyan won a silver medal at the 2010 European Weightlifting Championships and a bronze medal at the 2010 World Weightlifting Championships. He finally made his Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics but was unable to set a total. In May 2019, following reanalysis of his samples from the 2012 Olympics, which tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone metabolites and

stanozolol Stanozolol ( abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American pharmaceutical company W ...

metabolites, Daluzyan was disqualified from the Olympic Games.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daluzyan, Mel 1988 births Living people World Weightlifting Championships medalists Sportspeople from Gyumri Olympic weightlifters of Armenia Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Armenian female weightlifters Armenian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in weightlifting European champions in weightlifting European champions for Armenia LGBT weightlifters European Weightlifting Championships medalists