Weightlifting in Armenia

Weightlifting was introduced to Armenia in the late 1920s and became widely practiced after World War II. Today, it is one of the country's most popular sports.^[1] The sport is regulated by the Armenian Weightlifting Federation. The first weightlifters from Soviet Armenia made successful appearances the international stage in the 1970s. Vardan Militosyan won a silver at the 1976 Olympics, and later Yurik Vardanyan became an Olympic, World and European champion through the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Oksen Mirzoyan and Yurik Sarkisyan rose to top positions in the 1980s. After its independence from the Soviet Union, Armenia successfully held its weightlifting traditions and continues to be one of the strongest nations in Europe. In 2008, the Armenia team placed first at the European Championship. In the 2008 Summer Olympics Armenia won three bronze medals. Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan is Armenia's only world champion with his successful appearance in 2010.

Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri with a population of about 150,000, is well known for producing many prominent weightlifters,^[2] such as World and European weightlifting champions Yurik Vardanyan, Israel Militosyan, Gevorg Davtyan, Tigran G. Martirosyan and Nazik Avdalyan.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}