Yuri (Yurik) Norayrovich Vardanyan (Russian: Юрий (Юрик) Норайрович Варданян; Armenian: Յուրի (Յուրիկ) Վարդանյան, also transliterated Yuri (Yurik) Vardanian, 13 June 1956 – 1 November 2018) was a Soviet Armenian weightlifter.

[1][2] Vardanyan won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics, becoming the world's first weightlifter to achieve a 400 kilogram total in the 82.5 kg weight category.

He earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1977 and was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1985.

Vardanyan was born on 13 June 1956 in Leninakan, Armenian SSR (now Gyumri, Armenia), a city well known for its weightlifters.

He competed against Peter Wenzel of East Germany, one of the top middleweights in the world, twice that year and defeated him both times.

Four months later, at the World Championships, Vardanyan came into the competition relatively overshadowed by more well-known weightlifters, such as David Rigert.

Vardanyan caught the eyes of the weightlifting world by breaking all of his own records again and defeating silver medalist Péter Baczakó of Hungary by 25 kg in the total in a dominant performance.

Zlatev had also won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympics and now moved up to light heavyweight, as had Vardanyan.

However, he came in second to old rival Blagoi Blagoev at the European and World Championships and decided to campaign at light heavyweight once again.

Competing as a light heavyweight again, Vardanyan successfully regained his European and World Championships in close competitions to Zlatev, winning by just 2.5 kg in the total in both.

[14] Vardanyan faced defeat for the only time in the light heavyweight weight class at the 1984 European Weightlifting Championships, coming in second to Zlatev.

[16] Vardanyan also set all the world records for a final time in the light heavyweight division.

When the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse, those who came to power sought to win the support of the best-known people in the country.

In a bid to make people respect them and their decisions, the Union leaders paid Vardanyan a number of visits and requested that he express his support in public.

Shortly before that, Vardanyan received an offer to move for the time being to the USA to sign a contract with the Federation of Weightlifting.

Using connections with former Soviet Union countries, Vardanyan did work in business and traveled frequently.

He claimed that he had some political disagreements with then-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan and that served as a reason for him to move to the United States.

[26] On 8 October 2010, Vardanyan was in a car accident when his vehicle hit a tractor on the Yerevan-Gyumri highway.

Vardanyan received emergency surgery on a thigh bone and he sustained shin injuries, but recovered.

"[29] That same day, Vardanyan was diagnosed with an embolism and during surgery for lower leg reconstruction, his heart stopped.