Albert Azarianan

Albert Azarianan

Albert Wagarschakowitsch Azarjan ( Armenian Ալբերտ Ազարյան ; born February 11, 1929 in Vanadzor ) is a former Armenian gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1950s and was the best gymnast of his time in ring gymnastics.

Azaryan won eleven Soviet championship titles from 1952 to 1962, eight of them on the rings. In 1954 and 1958 he was world champion on rings and in 1956 and 1960 Olympic champion on his special equipment. In 1954, 1958 and 1960 he received the highest mark of all device finals for his ring exercise. His specialty was the cross slope with a quarter turn, which he showed in both directions. He underlined his superiority by the fact that he smiled at all power parts, which he demonstrated to opponents, judges and spectators that these parts were easy for him. In the all-around competition he was not so successful because he could not keep up with his Soviet teammates like Viktor Tschukarin or Boris Schachlin, especially on the ground .

After his career, Azaryan was the head of the gymnastics school in Yerevan and a judge. His son Eduard Azaryan was Olympic champion in 1980 with the team of the Soviet Union.

International success

• World Championship 1954
  • 1st place on the rings
  • 1st place in the team ranking

• 1956 Summer Olympics
  • 7th place in the all-around competition
  • 1st place on the rings
  • 5th place on bars
  • 1st place in the team ranking

• World Championship 1958
  • 1st place on the rings
  • 2nd place on the horizontal bar
  • 1st place in the team ranking

• 1960 Summer Olympics
  • 11th place in the all-around competition
  • 1st place on the rings
  • 2nd place in the team ranking

literature

• Erich Kamper , Bill Mallon : Who's Who of the Olympic Games 1896–1992. Who's Who at the Olympics. AGON Sportverlag, Kassel 1992, ISBN 3-928562-47-9 .
• Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 .