Levon Julfalakyan

Levon Julfalakjan on an Armenian postage stamp

Levon Arsenowitsch Dschulfalakjan ( Armenian Լեւոն Ջուլֆալակյան ; russ .: Левон Арсенович Джулфалакян * 5. April 1964 in Gyumri , Armenian SSR ) is a former Soviet wrestler of Armenian origin. He was in 1988 in Seoul Olympic champion in the Greco-Roman style lightweight.

Career

Levon Julfalakyan began at the age of 13 years in Gyumri with the rings. He concentrated fully on the Greco-Roman style and was trained into a world class wrestler by trainer Aram Sarkisjan within a few years. At a height of only 1.61 meters, he was a stocky and extremely powerful wrestler who, paired with a great attacking spirit and excellent technical ability, achieved great success in the course of his career. During his wrestling career he was a member of the Red Army, where he was particularly encouraged in terms of sport.

Lewon Dschulfalakjan achieved his first major international success at the Junior World Championships in 1984 in Fredrikshavn / Denmark . He won the lightweight title there in front of Claudio Passarelli from Germany and Marian Bandow from Bulgaria .

In those years Mikhail Prokudin dominated the events in the lightweight class in the Soviet Union , against which Levon Dschulfalakjan first had to prevail. He did not succeed in 1985, but in 1986 he became the Soviet lightweight champion for the first time, making him No. 1 in the USSR. He was then used at the European Championships in Piraeus and had a sensational debut there. The reporter in the German journal Der Ringer reveled in the highest tones of him. He wrote about this in No. 5/1986 on page 8: "In the final of the lightweight, the light of the Russian Levon Dzufalakian shone particularly well, because he gave the Bulgarian Rumen Gentsev a free hour in classic wrestling. The Russian fighting machine scored continuously and landed a 16: 3 success. The fight of the Russian, who has the figure of a weightlifter, was the most impressive final fight for me. The swing handles and lifters of Dzufalakian thrilled all spectators in Piraeus (the spelling of the names in "wrestler" was used ).

In the same year he was also world champion lightweight in Budapest . However, he struggled to defeat the German Claudio Passarelli , who did very well against him, in the pool final just on points. His victory in the final over the Finn Tapio Sipilä was convincing again.

Levon Dschulfalakjan had to experience how tough the competition in his own country was in 1987, when he was defeated by Aslaudin Abayev at the Soviet championship . Abayev was also world and European champion that year.

In 1988 he fought back but the leading position of the Soviet wrestler in the lightweight back and was used at the Olympic Games in Seoul . There he dominated the lightweight class as superior as in the 1986 World Cup and was Olympic champion ahead of South Korean Kim Sung-Moon . In addition, the magazine Der Ringer , No. 10/1988, says on page 5: "The Olympic champion Lewon Dschulfalakian (USSR) was a sensationally good wrestler, who in the final the judges couldn't take away the success over Kim." The reporter was referring to the many wrong judgments of the judges at the Olympic wrestling tournament and the Olympic boxing tournament, in which the South Korean athletes were often blatantly preferred.

Lewon Dschulfalakjan experienced a surprise at the 1989 World Cup in Martigny / Switzerland . He was no longer in the good shape of 1986 and 1988 and was beaten on points in the pool final by Claudio Passarelli . That was the only defeat he had to accept in an international championship in which he participated. With a victory over Alexis Jiménez from Cuba he saved the bronze medal .

After the 1989 World Cup, Levon Dschulfalakjan resigned from international wrestling, although he was only 25 years old. He completed a trainer and teacher training. He then spent many years as a coach in the Soviet Union and in Armenia , which he opted for when the Soviet Union collapsed. He also held the post of head coach of the Armenian national team of Greco-Roman wrestlers for many years. Now (2009) he is Vice-President of the Armenian Wrestling Association and has been President of the Union of Armenian Olympians in the National Olympic Committee of Armenia for several years. His son Arsen Dschulfalakjan , who became European welterweight champion in Greco-Roman style in 2009 , gives him great pleasure .

International success

OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship	Weight class
1984, 1st place , Junior European Championship in Fredrikshavn / DK	Light	in front of Claudio Passarelli , Germany , Marian Bandow, Bulgaria a . Csaba Scharfenberger, Hungary
1985, 1st place , Mälar Cup in Västerås	Light	before Mika Viskari, Finland , Sonny Davidsson, Sweden a . Torsten Schlonske , GDR
1985, 1st place , World Cup in Lund / Sweden	Light	before Jim Martinez , USA a . Sonny Davidsson
1986, 1st place , EM in Piraeus	Light	in front of Rumen Gentschew , Bulgaria , Stanislaw Barej, Poland , Torsten Schlonske u. Nandor Sabo , Yugoslavia
1986, 1st place , World Cup in Budapest	Light	before Tapio Sipilä , Finland , Claudio Passarelli, Morten Brekke , Norway a . Ștefan Negrișan , Romania
1987, 2nd place , Grand Prix of the FRG in Aschaffenburg	Light	behind Jerzy Kopanski , Poland, in front of Torsten Schlonske, Petre Cărare u. Ștefan Negrișan , bde. Romania
1987, 2nd place , Grand Prix tournament	Light	behind Petre Cărare, in front of Attila Repka , Hungary, Sumer Kocak, Turkey u. Jerzy Kopanski
1987, 5th place , FILA Grand Prix Gala in Budapest	Light	behind Aslaudin Abajew , USSR , Jerzy Kopanski, Petre Cărare and Nandor Sabo
1988, gold medal , OS in Seoul	Light	before Kim Sung-Moon , South Korea , Tapio Sipilä, Petre Cărare and Jerzy Kopanski
1989, 3rd place , World Championships in Martigny / Switzerland	Light	behind Claudio Passarelli u. Ghani Yalouz , France , before Alexis Jiménez, Cuba a . Attila Repka

swell

• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig,
• Trade journal Der Ringer ,
• Armenian Olympic Committee website

Web link

Profile of Levon Dschulfalakjan at the Institute for Applied Training Science