[1] Under personal trainer Alexan Karapetyan and coach Boghos Poghosyan, Ara began weight training from an early age.

At the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships in Santo Domingo, Khachatryan scored a total of 357 kg and won a bronze medal.

[2] Khachatryan won a silver medal at the 2007 European Weightlifting Championships in Strasbourg with a total of 361 kg, coming only behind compatriot Gevorg Davtyan.

He repeated the silver medal the next year at the 2008 European Weightlifting Championships in Italy, scoring just 1 kg behind the gold medalist.

Later that year Khachatryan competed at the 2010 World Weightlifting Championships, where, after winning the gold medal in the snatch, he received a serious arm injury and was forced to drop out from the competition.