Weightlifting in Armenia

Weightlifting was introduced to Armenia in the late 1920s and became widely practiced after World War II.

After its independence from the Soviet Union, Armenia successfully held its weightlifting traditions and continues to be one of the strongest nations in Europe.

Modern weightlifting, however, is relatively new and was mainly organized and institutionalized in Europe and North America in the late 19th century.

[8][10] During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was, by far, the strongest nation in the world in the sport of weightlifting[9] and Armenian athletes made a significant contribution to this.

[13] Vardanyan set the division record for a final time at the 1984 Friendship Games, an alternative to the Soviet-boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics, lifting a total of 405 kg.

Vardanyan's achievements have not been matched since, as the current light-heavyweight record for the now 85 kg light heavyweight category (not including records set before the weight limit change) is currently 394 kg, set by Andrei Rybakou at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

[15] For his accomplishments, Vardanyan earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1977 and was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1985.

[21] Aghvan Grigoryan, who became the first Armenian Olympian to bear the flag of Armenia at the Summer Olympics in 1996, was a weightlifter.

They came in first place at the 2008 European Weightlifting Championships and Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan, Gevorg Davtyan and Tigran Vardan Martirosyan all won bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, making it the most decorated Olympics for Armenia to date.

[27] Armenia's statistics agency recorded a downward trend in the 21st century in the number of people practicing weightlifting.