By Paul Vartan Sookiasian
The Summer Olympics in Paris ended Sunday, with Armenia scoring four medals, placing it 66th out of 204 countries and territories to compete. How does that stack up against the country’s past performances, and what can we expect in the future?
At this year’s games, gymnast Artur Davtyan, Greco-Roman wrestler Artur Aleksanyan, and weightlifter Varazdat Lalayan each earned silvers, plus a bronze from Malkhas Amoyan, also in Greco-Roman wrestling.
That makes this Armenia’s third most successful Olympics ever, according to the official methodology, which gives more weight to gold medals. Still, this year’s medal count is nearly identical to Armenia’s result at the previous Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, when the country won two silvers and two bronzes.
Overall, Team Armenia did not quite live up to expectations this year, as there was hope for at least two golds in Paris. In fact, a few of Armenia’s silvers easily could have been golds instead.
Aleksanyan insists an official’s ruling that gave his opponent enough points to win in the finals cheated him out of a gold. Armenia’s National Olympic Committee launched an appeal last week, which the United World Wrestling Federation has already rejected. It is now under consideration by the International Olympic Committee.
For his part, Lalayan came very close to completing a clean and jerk lift successfully, which could have earned him a gold against his opponent, Georgia’s Lasha Talakhadze, who just happens to be considered to be perhaps the best weightlifter of all time.
There were other close calls that could have expanded Armenia’s medal count. For one, Greco-Roman wrestler Slavik Galstyan initially appeared to pin his opponent which would have qualified him to compete for gold. However, his opponent challenged the result and it was overturned, leading to Galstyan’s loss in the match. Galstyan later lost in the bronze medal match as well.
Meanwhile, weightlifter Garik Karapetyan was one successful lift away from a silver, but instead had to settle for fourth place.
It is also worth noting that Gor Minasyan, a weightlifter who previously competed for Armenia, shared the podium with Lalayan as the bronze medalist, but representing Bahrain, as the Olympics only permit one athlete per country to compete in the same weight class.
In comparison, Georgia and Azerbaijan each took home seven medals, with Georgia coming in 24th place overall with three golds, against Azerbaijan’s 30th place with two golds.
Notably, while all of Armenia’s and Georgia’s medalists were natives of their countries, native Azerbaijanis won only two of Azerbaijan’s medals. The country’s other medalists were recruits from Cuba, Georgia, and Russia, with almost half of Azerbaijan’s team this time consisting of foreign “nationalized athletes,” who are granted citizenship in hopes of earning medals. While Azerbaijan is certainly not the only country to do this, the extent is fairly unusual.
In addition, there has been a noticeable decline in the number of Armenian athletes who qualify for the games. Armenia’s delegation reached a peak of 36 athletes at Rio 2016. That number quickly declined to 17 at Tokyo 2021 and to just 15 this year. At the same time, the team has become noticeably less diverse, with the number of women athletes declining from a high of eight in 2016 to just two this year. Nonetheless, Armenia’s number of medals has remained stable throughout that time.
One positive trend is Davtyan’s single-handed return of Armenians to the medals stand in gymnastics at the past two Olympics after a multi-decade lull stretching back to the Soviet era. He appears to have sparked a gymnastics renaissance in Armenia, which will host the European Gymnastics Championship for the first time in 2027.
For his part, Armenian Gymnastics Federation President Gagik Vanoyan stressed at a meeting with the local Armenian community in Paris last week that the Armenian government’s investments in sports are paying off, as reported by the Armenian news site Hetq.
The state budget for the sports sector last year was more than $26 million, compared to just $5.5 million in 2018. The strategy is long-term, focusing on renovating gyms in public schools and giving youth more access to sports and training.
“The Armenian government’s adopted policy and developed strategy cannot give quick results,” Sports Minister Karen Giloyan was quoted as saying earlier this week by the Armenpress news agency. “Today’s investment in sports will not turn into a medal tomorrow. For that we need time. The policy’s result is currently more visible in the teen and youth championships, judging by the medals. I am certain that we are on the right track and will make clear progress at the Los Angeles Olympics.”
