Suras Nalbandjan

Suren Nalbandjan ( Armenian Սուրեն Նալբանդյան ; born June 3, 1956 in Geghard , Armenian SSR ) is a former Soviet wrestler of Armenian descent and 1976 Olympic champion in the Greco-Roman style lightweight.

Career

Suren Nalbandjan comes from Armenia . There he started as a teenager with the rings and already developed in the junior age as one of the best Soviet wrestlers in Greco-Roman. Style in its weight class. He was therefore delegated to the army sports club in Astrakhan in southern Russia , where he was looked after by coach Vladimir Fomin . In the national team, in which he was soon accepted, the legendary Gennady Sapunov was his coach.

In 1974, at the age of 18, he was at the junior European championship in Haparanda in the featherweight second winner behind Ștefan Rusu from Romania , who will be one of his toughest competitors during the entire career of Suren Nalbandjan. In 1975 Suren was able to turn the tables and become lightweight junior world champion in Haskovo , this time ahead of Stefan Rusu.

In 1976 Suren was used at the European Featherweight Championships in Leningrad . Weakened from training he lost after four victories over such renowned opponents as Georgi Markow from Bulgaria , István Tóth from Hungary and Stylianos Migiakis from Greece , against Kazimierz Lipień from Poland and Ion Păun from Romania and had to be satisfied with 3rd place. Surprisingly, Suren was used again in the lightweight at the Olympic Games in Montreal . He fully justified the confidence of the Soviet team management, because he became Olympic champion . He defeated six opponents, including the world-class athletes Heinz-Helmut Wehling from the GDR , Andrzej Supron and Stefan Rusu.

In 1977 Suren was only at the start at the European Championships in Bursa . He was in excellent shape again, defeated Andrzej Supron a. Stefan Rusu and the Turkish Erol Mutlu, who wrestled particularly hard in front of a local audience .

In 1978 and 1979, Suren had to realize how difficult it was even for an Olympic champion like Suren Nalbandjan in the Soviet Union to be used in international championships. Although he had won the important "Ivan-Poddubny" tournament in Minsk by Rusu and Supron in the spring , he was not used in the 1978 European or World Cup. The reason for this was that he was at the Soviet championship in Greco-Roman. Lightweight style was not among the top six.

In 1979, Suren was not used in any international championship, although that year he was Soviet champion ahead of Wladyslaw Mkrychev and Arif Niftulajew and Spartakiade winner in front of Vitešlav Macha from the CSSR , Arif Niftulajew and Anatoli Bykov , albeit both times in the welterweight division.

In 1980, however, Suren took part in the Olympic Games for the second time. In Moscow he started in the lightweight and lost to Andrzej Supron and was put off the mat in the fight against Stefan Rusu because of passivity. For Stefan Rusu this judgment was enough to win the Olympic gold medal, while Suren Nalbandjan won the bronze medal.

After 1980 Suren Nalbandjan, although only 24 years old, was no longer used in any international championships. In Armenia he was inducted into the "Hall of Fame" of the most deserving Armenians.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, EM = European Championship, GR = Greco-Roman style, Fe = featherweight, Le = lightweight, We = welterweight, back then up to 52 kg, 62 kg, 68 kg and 74 kg body weight )

• 1973, 1st place , youth competition of friendship in Suhl , GR, up to 60 kg body weight, in front of Wolfgang Eckardt, GDR a . Christo Ignatow, Bulgaria ;
• 1974, 2nd place , Junior European Championship in Haparanda , GR, Fe, behind Ștefan Rusu , Romania a . before Iwan Stajkow , Bulgaria , Mats Friberg, Sweden a . Domenico Giuffrida, Italy ;
• 1975, 1st place , Junior World Championships in Haskovo , GR, Le, ahead of Stefan Rusu, Iwan Larew, Bulgaria, Miroslaw Zukowski, Poland a . Tapio Sipilä , Finland ;
• 1976, 3rd place , EM in Leningrad , GR, Fe, with victories over Roland Werner, GDR , István Tóth , Hungary , Stylianos Migiakis , Greece a . Georgi Markow , Bulgaria a. Losses against Kazimierz Lipień , Poland a. Ion Păun , Romania;
• 1976, gold medal , OS in Montreal , GR, Le, with victories over Ferenc Toma, Hungary, Jafar Alizadeh-Koldkeshi, Iran , Nedko Nedew , Bulgaria, Andrzej Supron , Poland, Stefan Rusu u. Heinz-Helmut Wehling , GDR;
• 1977, 1st place , tournament in Klippan / Sweden , GR, Le, before Heinz-Helmut Wehling u. Kenneth Karlsson, Sweden;
• 1977, 1st place , EM in Bursa , GR, Le, with victories over Karl Kathan, Austria , Harald Madsen, Denmark , Todor Zekow, Bulgaria, Andrzej Supron, Stefan Rusu and Erol Mutlu , Turkey ;
• 1978, 1st place , "Iwan-Poddubny" tournament in Minsk , GR, Le, ahead of Stefan Rusu and Andrzej Supron;
• 1979, 1st place , "Spartadiade" of the USSR , GR, We, before Vitešlav Macha , CSSR , Arif Niftulajew u. Anatoly Bykov , bde. USSR;
• 1980, bronze medal , OS in Moscow , GR, Le, with victories over Tapio Sipilä , Mohamed Moulak, Algeria a . Károly Gaal , Hungary a. a loss to Andrej Supron; in the fight between Nalbandjan and Stefan Rusu, both wrestlers were disqualified for being passive

swell

• 1) Div. Issues of the journals "Athletik" from 1974 to 1975 and "Der Ringer" from 1976 to 1980,
• 2) International Wrestling Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig

Web links

• Suras Nalbandjan in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )