1. Albert Azaryan was a Soviet and Armenian artistic gymnast who competed internationally representing the Soviet Union.
27 Facts About Albert Azaryan
1. 2.
Albert Azaryan was the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Champion on the still rings.
3.
Albert Azaryan was the first person to do one of the rings most famous variations of the Iron Cross called the Azaryan Cross, which incorporates a quarter turn to the side.
4.
Albert Azaryan was born on 11 February 1929 in Martunashen, Transcaucasian SFSR.
5.
Albert Azaryan had to leave school and work as an ironsmith to support his family.
6.
When it was his turn, Albert Azaryan pulled himself up on the rings and performed his own special technique.
7.
Albert Azaryan became a member of the Soviet national men's gymnastics team and competed with them at the 1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
8.
The Soviet team won gold in the team competition and Albert Azaryan himself won the gold medal in rings.
9.
Albert Azaryan joined the rest of the Soviet team at the 1955 European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships one year later.
10.
Albert Azaryan came behind stablemate Boris Shakhlin in most of the competitions, including coming second to Shakhlin on the high bars and individual all-around.
11.
Albert Azaryan had a three-way tie with Shakhlin and Helmut Bantz on the parallel bars, resulting in three gold medalists.
12.
Albert Azaryan competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in every men's gymnastics competition.
13.
Albert Azaryan came in seventh place in the individual all-around.
14.
Albert Azaryan came in fifth in the parallel bars and eighth in the horizontal bar.
15.
When it came time for the still rings, Albert Azaryan won the gold medal and became the Olympic Champion in rings.
16.
Albert Azaryan won a silver medal on the horizontal bar.
17.
Albert Azaryan won the Olympic gold medal in the still rings for a second time and made history as the first Olympian to become an Olympic Champion in the rings twice.
18.
Albert Azaryan was the flag bearer for Armenia at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics and is the third and fourth Olympian to bear the flag of Armenia at the Summer Olympics.
19.
Albert Azaryan became the first flag bearer to bear the flag of Armenia twice.
20.
Albert Azaryan was originally intended to bear the Armenian flag at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but the decision was reversed due to his age.
21.
Albert Azaryan served as President of the Armenian Gymnastics Federation from 1998 to 2021.
22.
Albert Azaryan had two daughters and one son with his wife.
23.
Albert Azaryan went to become an Olympic champion at the team event in 1980 Olympics.
24.
Albert Azaryan received congratulations from late Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan on his 70th birthday, former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on his 75th birthday and former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on his 80th birthday.
25.
An artistic gymnastics tournament, the Albert Azaryan Cup, is named after Azaryan and hosted in Yerevan, Armenia.
26.
Albert Azaryan was voted the top Armenian athlete of the 20th century by journalists from the Armenian Sport Journalists Federation.
27.
Albert Azaryan died on 5 September 2023, at the age of 94.