Armen Nazaryan (judoka)

Armen Nazaryan started judo in 1990 in the Sports School of Hrazdan. Nazaryan was first interested in boxing, but moved to judo in 1993. Since 1995, he has been trained by Karen Abagyan. In 2003, he became the Youth European Champion and won a bronze medal at the adult 2003 European Judo Championships. He won a bronze medal again at the 2004 European Judo Championships the following year and competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Nazaryan won a gold medal at the 2005 European Judo Championships in Rotterdam in the weight category of 60 kg. He won all five fights and defeated the reigning European Champion Ludwig Paischer of Austria in the final. With this success, Nazaryan became the first Armenian judoka to become a European Champion.^[2]

Nazaryan also won a gold medal at the 2005 World Cup in Tallinn. The next year, he won a silver medal at the 2006 European Judo Championships. In 2007, Nazaryan moved up to a heavier weight class of 66 kg and won a bronze medal at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok. Nazaryan won a gold medal at the 2008 Super World Cup in Moscow and participated at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Nazaryan competed in the Olympics for a third time at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He announced before the Olympics began that it would be his last time competing.^[3]