IWF120y/83 – 1985: Yurik Vardanyan (URS) retires after a brilliant career

Armenia has no Olympic gold medallist in weightlifting so far, but the triumph of Yurik Vardanyan at the 1980 Moscow Games and the additional six titles at the World Championships makes him the best lifter so far in the country’s history. Born in June 1956 in Leninakan (then Soviet Union, now Gyumri in Armenia), he could never compete for his native nation, as he retired in 1985, some years before the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the independence of its former republics. At 14, he started practicing weightlifting under the guidance of his uncle, and seven years later, in 1977, he wins his first gold medal at the World Championships held in Stuttgart (GER). He would revalidate his title in the two subsequent editions, in 1978 and 1979. Competing in the 82.5kg category, he arrives at the Moscow 1980 Olympics as one of the favourites for the win. He confirms his credentials, by convincingly lifting 177.5-222.5-400 for the victory (photo). He is the first lifter in this category to ever achieve a 400kg Total. His supremacy remains unaltered in the years to follow, with three additional gold medals in the IWF global showcase, in 1981, 1983, and 1985. His best result at the Worlds was precisely his last one, with a performance of 177.5-220-397.5. In parallel, he sets a total of 41 World Records throughout his prolific career, namely with 15 global marks in Snatch (best of 190kg), another 15 in Clean & Jerk (228kg), and 11 in Total. After his retirement in 1985, he spent his life between the USA and Armenia, coming definitively back to Yerevan in 2009. His son Norayr, born in 1987, also became a lifter, representing Armenia at the 2012 Olympics. Yurik Varanyan passed away in November 2018, at the age of 62.