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Legendary Soviet-Era Armenian Weightlifter Yuri Vardanian Dies


Olympic weightlifting champion Yuri Vardanian (file photo)
Olympic weightlifting champion Yuri Vardanian (file photo)

Yuri Vardanian, a legendary Armenian weightlifter who won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games, has died in the United States at the age of 62, Armenia’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs confirmed on Friday.

In a November 2 statement, Armenia’s acting Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Gabriel Ghazarian said Vardanian died of a “long serious illness.”

Vardanian, who also won a number of world, European and national titles and set 43 weightlifting records during his sporting career, was the world’s first weightlifter to achieve a 400-kilogram total in the 82.5-kg weight category.

After ending his weightlifting career Vardanian moved to the United States in 1992 and settled in Los Angeles.

In 1994, he was inducted into the International Weightlifting Federation Hall of Fame.

In 2009, Vardanian returned to Armenia where he served as an advisor to the Armenian president until 2013. Vardanian then briefly served as Armenia’s minister of sports and youth affairs before being appointed the country’s ambassador to Georgia in 2014. He left his ambassadorial position in 2017.

Despite his controversial diplomatic career, to this day Vardanian is hailed as a hero in Armenia for his deeds in the sport of weightlifting. A stamp honoring Vardanian was printed in Armenia in 2010.

“A man who made thousands of fans honor him with standing ovations, a man whom numerous young athletes wished to emulate and whose athletic achievements were a matter of pride for the Armenian people has died,” Armenia’s acting Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Ghazarian said in a message on the legendary weightlifter’s death.

“He [Vardanian] is an athlete who will, for many years to come, serve as an example to weightlifters. His death is an irreparable loss for the Armenian sport,” the official added, expressing his condolences to the family and friends of Vardanian.

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