In the course of both the competitions, Mirzoyan set new world records in the snatch, clean and jerk and the total exercise, all in the bantamweight (56 kg) division.
As the reigning World Champion, he would have been the favorite to win the Olympic gold medal.
In early 1988, Mirzoyan's rival Neno Terziyski failed a doping test, resulting in a ban from weightlifting.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Mirzoyan came in second place, behind the original first-place winner Mitko Grablev.
[5] As of 2004, Mirzoyan is the vice-president of the National Olympic Committee of Armenia and the director of the Yerevan School Sports in weightlifting.