The Rio 2016 Olympic Games ended on a good note for Armenia's Olympic Team. This year, we took four medals; one gold and three silver. A total of thirty-three Armenians competed to represent our country; this is the largest Olympic team of athletes we have ever had up to this point.
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Houry Gebeshian, dressed in a white leotard decorated with a sequined Mount Ararat[/caption]
Armenian-American, Houry Gebeshian became the first female gymnast ever to represent the Republic of Armenia at the Olympics. She made history as she competed in the beam, floor, and vault gymnastics events dressed in a white leotard decorated with a sequined Mount Ararat.
Simon Martirosyan was the first to earn a medal for Armenia. He took home a silver medal in the men's one hundred and five kilogram weightlifting event. He lifted four hundred and seventeen kilograms which put him in second place following Uzbekistan's Ruslan Nurudinov, who set an Olympic record with his weight of four hundred and thirty-one kilograms. Rio is the third Olympic win for Martirosyan, who earned a bronze medal in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships.
Armenia's Migran Arutyunyan took home our second silver medal, after taking second place in the Greco-Roman Wrestling sixty-six kilogram final. Arutyunyan gained defeat over the current seventy-one-kilogram world champion, Azerbaijan's Rasul Chunayev. She won the semifinal match which then took her on to the final.
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Artur Aleksanyan[/caption]
Artur Aleksanyan who was our flag bearer at the closing ceremony won us our first gold medal in Rio after a victory over Cuba's Daniel Lugo Cabrera in the ninety-eight kilogram Greco-Roman Wrestling final.
Aleksanyan, is the two-time reigning world champion and won his events back to back in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
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Gor Minasyan[/caption]
As Aleksanyan approached the podium to receive his medal, he wore a shirt which bore an image of Robert Abajyan, a junior sergeant who was killed in Artsakh and awarded with the "Hero of Artsakh" award, an honorary title. Abajyan was only 19 years old at the time of his death and is the youngest person to be awarded the title.
Gor Minasyan won a silver medal, Armenia's third one this year in the one hundred and five kilogram weightlifting event. The gold went to Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia who earned first place, and another Georgian, Irakli Turmanidze, took home a bronze medal. His win this year earned Minasyan his second Olympic medal after winning a silver medal at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.
Houry Gebeshian, dressed in a white leotard decorated with a sequined Mount Ararat[/caption]
Armenian-American, Houry Gebeshian became the first female gymnast ever to represent the Republic of Armenia at the Olympics. She made history as she competed in the beam, floor, and vault gymnastics events dressed in a white leotard decorated with a sequined Mount Ararat.
Simon Martirosyan was the first to earn a medal for Armenia. He took home a silver medal in the men's one hundred and five kilogram weightlifting event. He lifted four hundred and seventeen kilograms which put him in second place following Uzbekistan's Ruslan Nurudinov, who set an Olympic record with his weight of four hundred and thirty-one kilograms. Rio is the third Olympic win for Martirosyan, who earned a bronze medal in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships.
Armenia's Migran Arutyunyan took home our second silver medal, after taking second place in the Greco-Roman Wrestling sixty-six kilogram final. Arutyunyan gained defeat over the current seventy-one-kilogram world champion, Azerbaijan's Rasul Chunayev. She won the semifinal match which then took her on to the final.
[caption id="attachment_2290" align="alignright" width="300"] Artur Aleksanyan[/caption]
Artur Aleksanyan who was our flag bearer at the closing ceremony won us our first gold medal in Rio after a victory over Cuba's Daniel Lugo Cabrera in the ninety-eight kilogram Greco-Roman Wrestling final.
Aleksanyan, is the two-time reigning world champion and won his events back to back in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
[caption id="attachment_2291" align="alignleft" width="210"] Gor Minasyan[/caption]
As Aleksanyan approached the podium to receive his medal, he wore a shirt which bore an image of Robert Abajyan, a junior sergeant who was killed in Artsakh and awarded with the "Hero of Artsakh" award, an honorary title. Abajyan was only 19 years old at the time of his death and is the youngest person to be awarded the title.
Gor Minasyan won a silver medal, Armenia's third one this year in the one hundred and five kilogram weightlifting event. The gold went to Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia who earned first place, and another Georgian, Irakli Turmanidze, took home a bronze medal. His win this year earned Minasyan his second Olympic medal after winning a silver medal at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.