Prior to 1992, Armenians would participate in the Olympics representing the USSR, and in 1992 they were part of the Unified Team. As part of the Soviet Union, Armenia was very successful, winning plenty of medals and helping the USSR win the medal standings at the Olympics on numerous occasions. The first medal won by an Armenian in modern Olympic history was by Hrant Shahinyan (sometimes spelled as Grant Shaginyan), who won two golds and two silvers in gymnastics at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. To highlight the level of success of Armenians in the Olympics, Shahinyan was quoted as saying:
Armenian sportsmen had to outdo their opponents by several notches for the shot at being accepted into any Soviet team. But those difficulties notwithstanding, 90 percent of Armenian athletes on Soviet Olympic teams came back with medals.[2]
Armenia contributed several more notable gymnasts to the powerful Soviet gymnastics team, including world and Olympic champions Albert Azaryan, Eduard Azaryan and Artur Akopyan.
With Armenia's two gold medalists, Armen Nazaryan (1996) and Artur Aleksanyan (2016), and three silver medalists, Armen Mkrtchyan (1996), Tigran Martirosyan (2008), and Arsen Julfalakyan (2012), wrestling is Armenia's most successful Olympic sport. More than half of Armenia's Olympic medals have come from wrestling.
Armenia hosted the 2010 FILA Wrestling World Cup. The Armenian wrestling team came in third place overall and Armenian wrestlers individually won three of the seven gold medals.
Traditional Armenian wrestling is called kokh, and practiced in traditional garb; it was one of the influences included in the Soviet combat sport of sambo, which is also very popular. Sambo in Armenia is regulated by the Sambo Federation of Armenia.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is currently the most prominent footballer in Armenia.
Nikita Simonyan was a member of the Olympic gold medal winning Soviet Union national football team at the 1956 Summer Olympics and a four-time Soviet Top League and two-time Soviet Cup winner playing for FC Spartak Moscow. Simonyan also became the Soviet Top League top goalscorer three times. He also holds the record for most league goals scored for Spartak Moscow at 133. After retiring from football, he became the head coach of Spartak and later became the manager of both Spartak and FC Ararat Yerevan. Both teams won the Soviet Top League under Simonyan's management.
Armenia won the World Team Chess Championship in 2011, against the top ten teams of the world, including Russia and China. Members of the Armenian chess team were Levon Aronian, Sergei Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and Robert Hovhannisyan.
The Armenian Chess Team won the Olympiad title for a third time in 2012 at the Istanbul-hosted Chess Olympiad. The team consisted of Levon Aronian, Sergei Movsesian, Vladimir Akopian, Gabriel Sargissian and Tigran L. Petrosian.
Armenia currently ranks 5th on the all-time Chess Olympiad medal table despite only competing since 1992. The nation was also a contributing power to the still #1 ranked Soviet Union. Tigran Petrosian himself is still ranked #1 for the best individual results in the open section.
Armenia's best basketball players all play outside of the country, mostly in the United States and Russia.
The first ever season of the professional domestic basketball competition of Armenia known as Basketball League A was launched in October 2017 with 7 participating teams, representing the cities of Yerevan (4 teams), Gyumri, Artik and Stepanakert.[3]
Boxing is a popular sport in Armenia. The country has regularly sent competitors to the Olympics, but met with little success. The sport is regulated by the Armenian Boxing Federation.
Though Armenia has had little success in amateur boxing, the country has still produced an Olympic medalist, Hrachik Javakhyan, and a World Champion, Nshan Munchyan.
Armenian boxers have had more success in professional boxing. Vic Darchinyan and Arthur Abraham have both won world titles in different weight divisions. Susi Kentikian has also won world titles in women's boxing. Khoren Gevor is a four-time world title challenger. Karapet Karapetyan was long time Netherlands Champion in kickboxing and came far in boxing but stopped to continue as a lawyer. Vanes Martirosyan and Karo Muratyan are both rising contenders.
Armenia has produced many Olympic champions in artistic gymnastics during the Soviet days, such as Hrant Shahinyan, Albert Azaryan and Eduard Azaryan. The success of the Armenian gymnasts in the Olympic competitions has greatly contributed in the popularity of the sport. Thus, many prominent competitors represent the country in the European and World championships, including Artur Davtyan and Harutyun Merdinyan.
The capital Yerevan has many state-owned schools of artistic gymnastics, including the Albert Azaryan School opened in 1964 and the Hrant Shahinyan School opened in 1965.
Futsal
Futsal is very popular in Armenia. Many companies as well as universities have their own teams who participate in the Futsal League of Armenia. Currently, 8 teams take part in the Armenian futsal league, representing the cities of Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Kapan and Alaverdi. The Mika Sports Arena of Yerevan is the home of the Armenia national futsal team.
Skiing is another growing sport in Armenia. The mountainous nature of the country has allowed for the development of the sport, especially after the establishment of the Tsaghkadzor ski resort in 1986. In general, the skiing season in Armenia starts in mid-December and stretches well into March. There are ski resorts in Vanadzor and Jermuk as well. Professional skiing and snowboarding is managed by the Armenian Ski Federation.
Field hockey is mainly popular in the town of Hrazdan. It is home to the only field hockey venue in Armenia, with a capacity of 1,500 seats. Hrazdan Hockey Club occasionally represents the country in several regional and international tournaments.[6] The Soviet-Armenian player and 1980 Olympic bronze medalist Sos Hayrapetyan[7] played for the club between 1988 and 1992.[8]
Windsurfing in Sevan
Windsurfing and kitesurfing are becoming popular in Armenia. It was first introduced by the initiative of the 2nd president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, who founded the Yerevan Yacht Club at the end of the 1990s.[9] The sport is being regulated by the Professional Windsurfing and Kitesurfing Federation of Armenia. The competitions regularly take place at the Yerevan Lake, Lyon Park of Yerevan and Lake Sevan.[10]
Recently, MMA has gained massive popularity in Armenia, through the efforts of the Armfighting Professional Federation. It was founded in Yerevan in 2005 by Hayk Ghukasyan and currently runs several branches throughout the provinces of Armenia as well as Artsakh, with more than 2,000 athletes.[13]
Homenetmen and AGBU are the two biggest organizations that are devoted to athletics among Armenians. They, notably Homenetmen, have opened chapters all across the globe, wherever an Armenian community is present. Homenetmen organizes the Pan-Homenetmen Games each year, when the organization's members gather in a host city to play friendly matches against each other in various sports such as football, basketball, athletics, ice hockey, and volleyball.
The Armenian Student Sports Federation promotes student's sports and organizes national and international level student sporting activities and competitions.
As of the 2016 state budget, the government of Armenia allocates around US$3.83 million annually for sports, and gives it to the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, the body that determines which programs should benefit from the funds.[16]
Due to the lack of success lately on the international level, in recent years, Armenia has rebuilt 16 Soviet-era sports schools and furnished them with new equipment for a total cost of $1.9 million. The rebuilding of the regional schools was financed by the Armenian government. About $9.3 million has been invested in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor to improve the winter sports infrastructure, because of dismal performances at recent winter sports events. In 2005, a cycling center was opened in Yerevan, with the aim of helping produce world class Armenian cyclists. The government has also promised a cash reward of $700,000 to Armenians who win a gold medal at the Olympics. Rector of the Yerevan State Institute of Physical Culture Vahram Arakelian believes that Armenia will produce Olympic champions in 2016, because by that time “the work of new coaches and their influence on their trainees will be seen.”[17]
Vladimir Akopian is an Armenian-American chess Grandmaster.
Levon Grigori Aronian is an Armenian-American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at age 17. He is a former world rapid and blitz champion and has held the No. 2 position in the March 2014 FIDE world chess rankings with a rating of 2830, becoming the fourth highest-rated player in history.
Sports in Uzbekistan includes sports that are played worldwide, such as football, boxing, wrestling, futsal, and judo, as well as sports that originate in the country such as kurash, which is a type of upright wrestling, belbogli kurash, turon, and boyqurgan. Uzbekistan will host the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup and the 2025 Asian Youth Games.
Karen Asrian was an Armenian chess player. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1998, he was a three-time Armenian champion. Asrian was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team in the 37th Chess Olympiad.
Gabriel Eduardi Sargissian is an Armenian chess grandmaster. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the Chess Olympiads in 2006, 2008 and 2012 and at the World Team Chess Championship in 2011. Sargissian was awarded the Movses Khorenatsi medal in June 2006 and awarded the Honoured Master of Sport of the Republic of Armenia title in 2009.
Smbat Gariginovich Lputian is an Armenian chess grandmaster.
Poland first participated at the Olympic Games in 1924, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the 1984 Games, when they were forced to be part of the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Poland has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games.
The Pan-Armenian Games are a multi-sport event, held between competitors from the Armenian diaspora and Armenia. They consist of various competitions in individual and team sports among the Armenian athletes. It takes place in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Albert Azaryan was a Soviet and Armenian artistic gymnast who competed internationally representing the Soviet Union. He was the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Champion on the still rings. Azaryan was the first gymnast to become an Olympic Champion in rings twice, a feat that Akinori Nakayama would also accomplish twelve years later and that no one else has matched since. He was the first person to do one of the rings most famous variations of the Iron Cross called the Azaryan Cross, which incorporates a quarter turn to the side.
Artashes Minasian is an Armenian chess grandmaster. He tied for first in the 1991 USSR Chess Championship and is a six-time Armenian Chess Champion.
Ashot Nadanian is an Armenian chess International Master (1997), chess theoretician and chess coach.
The Armenian Olympic Committee is responsible for Armenia's participation in the Olympic Games. It is headquartered in Yerevan.
Tigran Levoni Petrosian is an Armenian chess player who holds the title of grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in 2004. A two-time national champion, he competed in two Chess Olympiads, winning team gold in 2008 and 2012.
Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport is a higher educational institution institute, located in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1945 and prepares coached, sport journalists, and specialists in the field of health improving physical culture kinesiology and adaptive physical culture. The graduates are awarded a diploma, which is a state-authorized document asserting the higher education completion for state agencies.
Levon Julfalakyan is a former Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler. He is an Olympic, World, and European Champion and was merited Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1988. Julfalakyan is the current head coach of the Armenian national Greco-Roman wrestling team and President of the Union of Armenian Olympians, as well as a member of the executive committee of the NOC.
The Chess Federation of Armenia, also known as the Armenian Chess Federation, is the governing chess organization in Armenia and is affiliated to FIDE. The body was founded in 1927. Responsible for organizing individual and club championships for men and women and the various important international tournaments in Armenia, it also forms the Armenian national men's and women's teams. The Federation is a member of the European Chess Union.
Chess has been played in Armenia since the early Middle Ages; however, it was institutionalized during the early Soviet period. Highly popular in Armenia today, chess gained widespread recognition during the 1960s, when Soviet Armenian grandmaster Tigran Petrosian became the World Chess Champion. A country of about three million people, Armenia is considered one of the strongest chess nations today, and a chess superpower. Among countries, Armenia has one of the most chess grandmasters per capita.
Weightlifting was introduced to Armenia in the late 1920s and became widely practiced after World War II. Today, it is one of the country's most popular sports. The sport is regulated by the Armenian Weightlifting Federation. The first weightlifters from Soviet Armenia made successful appearances on the international stage in the 1970s. Vardan Militosyan won a silver at the 1976 Olympics, and later Yurik Vardanyan became an Olympic, World and European champion through the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Oksen Mirzoyan and Yurik Sarkisyan rose to top positions in the 1980s. After its independence from the Soviet Union, Armenia successfully held its weightlifting traditions and continues to be one of the strongest nations in Europe. In 2008, the Armenia team placed first at the European Championship. In the 2008 Summer Olympics Armenia won three bronze medals. Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan is Armenia's only world champion with his successful appearance in 2010.
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