# Wrestling in Armenia

Wrestling (Armenian: ըմբշամարտ, pronounced) has deep historical roots in Armenia. Wrestling was practiced in the Armenian Highlands since ancient times. Armenians have their own variant of the sport called Kokh. It was recorded that King Tiridates III of Armenia won the Ancient Olympic Games in wrestling in 281 AD. During the Soviet era, wrestling became one of the most practiced sports in Armenia and remained popular after Armenia's independence in 1991. Armenian athletes have been successful at international competitions in the last two decades. Many have become World and European champions, both in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling. Over half of the fifteen Armenian Olympic medalists and the two gold medal winners have been wrestlers. The sport is overseen by the Wrestling Federation of Armenia.

## History
### Ancient history

At the 265th Olympiad (281 AD) the Armenian King Tiridates III (286–342 AD), who in 301 AD adopted Christianity as the state religion, making Armenia the first Christian nation, became an Olympic Champion in wrestling.

### Kokh

Kokh (Armenian: Կոխ) is the Armenian national wrestling, known since the Early Middle Ages. It's considered to be one of the oldest forms of wrestling. It had influenced the Soviet martial sport Sambo.
The winner is the one who throws the opponent on the mat without boosting and/or turning him. Pushing the opponent out of the mat, which has a radius of 7–9 meters, also results in winning. A Kokh fight usually lasts from 5 to 10 minutes. The Kokh fights are often accompanied with Armenian folk music and before the beginning of a fight wrestlers do folk dances.
Two varieties of Kokh are Lori Kokh and Shirak Kokh. The main difference between two styles is between the clothing. In Shirak Kokh, wrestlers wear shalvar pants and are topless and were allowed to grab the legs of the opponent. In Lori Kokh, they wear chokha (traditional Caucasian costume) and have to grab the opponent's dress to throw or push them out. Until the late 1980s, Kokh was practiced in rural areas of Armenia, although no professional Kokh athletes existed. Today, about 700 children in Armenia practice Kokh.

### Soviet period

Sports in general and wrestling, particularly, became popular in Armenia in the 1920s and 1930s, but it wasn't until the end of the World War II, when Armenian and Soviet athletes started to appear on international competitions. Sargis Vardanyan became the Soviet champion of Greco-Roman wrestling twice, in 1940 and 1944. In later years, Armenian Greco-Roman wrestlers had significant role in Soviet wrestling. Notable ones included Ruben Karapetyan (1969 first junior world champion), Artem Teryan (First wrestling Olympic medalist), Suren Nalbandyan (1976 Olympic champion), Sanasar Oganisyan (1980 Olympic champion), Norayr Musheghian (1958 World Champion), Benur Pashayan (1982 and 1983 World Champion), Levon Julfalakyan (1986 World Champion), Mnatsakan Iskandaryan (1990, 1991, 1994 World Champion).

### Independent Armenia

The Federation of Freestyle Wrestling of Armenia and the Federation of Greco-Roman Wrestling Federation were founded in 1992 and were merged in 1996 forming the Wrestling Federation of Armenia. It is the national governing body of the sport in the country. According to Razmik Stepanyan, secretary of the Armenian Olympic Committee, as of 2009, there were 25 wrestling schools in 10 provinces of Armenia, 304 coaches and 7,454 athletes practicing wrestling.
In 2021, government statistics showed 7,800 wrestlers in Armenia, including 4,000 in freestyle wrestling and 3,800 Greco-Roman wrestling. There were over 700 coaches and trainers in both. A little more than 1,000 people practiced Sambo and 126 practiced Kokh.

## Records
### Olympics

9 of the 18 Olympic medals of Armenia are from wrestling.
| Games | Athlete | Style and weight | Position |
| 1996 Atlanta | Armen Nazaryan | Greco-Roman 52 kg | Gold |
| 1996 Atlanta | Armen Mkrtchyan | Freestyle 48 kg | Silver |
| 2008 Beijing | Roman Amoyan | Greco-Roman 55 kg | Bronze |
| 2008 Beijing | Yury Patrikeyev | Greco-Roman 120 kg | Bronze |
| 2012 London | Arsen Julfalakyan | Greco-Roman 74 kg | Silver |
| 2012 London | Artur Aleksanyan | Greco-Roman 96 kg | Bronze |
| 2016 Rio | Migran Arutyunyan | Greco-Roman 66 kg | Silver |
| 2016 Rio | Artur Aleksanyan | Greco-Roman 98 kg | Gold |
| 2020 Tokyo | Artur Aleksanyan | Greco-Roman 97 kg | Silver |
| 2024 Paris | Artur Aleksanyan | Greco-Roman 97 kg | Silver |
| 2024 Paris | Malkhas Amoyan | Greco-Roman 77 kg | Bronze |

### World Championships

Greco-Roman
Year
Athlete
Weight
Position
Ref
1993 Stockholm
Armen Nazaryan
52 kg
 Silver
1993 Stockholm
Aghasi Manukyan
57 kg
 Gold
1995 Prague
Armen Nazaryan
52 kg
 Silver
1995 Prague
Mkhitar Manukyan
62 kg
 Bronze
1997 Wrocław
Vahan Juharyan
54 kg
 Silver
2001 Patras
Karen Mnatsakanyan
58 kg
 Silver
2001 Patras
Vaghinak Galstyan
63 kg
 Gold
2007 Baku
Yury Patrikeyev
120 kg
 Bronze
2009 Herning
Roman Amoyan
55 kg
 Silver
2010 Moscow
Roman Amoyan
55 kg
 Bronze
2010 Moscow
Arsen Julfalakyan
74 kg
 Silver
2010 Moscow
Yury Patrikeyev
120 kg
 Silver
2011 Istanbul
Arsen Julfalakyan
74 kg
 Bronze
2013 Budapest
Roman Amoyan
55 kg
 Bronze
2013 Budapest
Arsen Julfalakyan
74 kg
 Bronze
2013 Budapest
Artur Aleksanyan
96 kg
 Silver
2014 Tashkent
Arsen Julfalakyan
75 kg
 Gold
2014 Tashkent
Artur Aleksanyan
98 kg
 Gold
2015 Las Vegas
Artur Aleksanyan
98 kg
 Gold
2017 Paris
Maksim Manukyan
80 kg
 Gold
2017 Paris
Artur Aleksanyan
98 kg
 Gold
2018 Budapest
Maksim Manukyan
82 kg
 Bronze
2018 Budapest
Artur Shahinyan
87 kg
 Bronze
2019 Nur-Sultan
Slavik Galstyan
63 kg
 Bronze
2019 Nur-Sultan
Artur Aleksanyan
97 kg
 Silver
2021 Oslo
Malkhas Amoyan
72 kg
 Gold
2022 Belgrade
Artur Aleksanyan
97 kg
 Gold
2022 Belgrade
Malkhas Amoyan
77 kg
 Bronze
2023 Belgrade
Malkhas Amoyan
77 kg
 Bronze
2023 Belgrade
Artur Aleksanyan
97 kg
 Silver
Freestyle
Year
Athlete
Weight
Position
Ref
1995 Atlanta
Armen Mkrtchyan
48 kg
 Bronze
1995 Atlanta
Arayik Gevorgyan
68 kg
 Gold
1997 Krasnoyarsk
Arayik Gevorgyan
69 kg
 Gold
1998 Tehran
Arayik Gevorgyan
69 kg
 Gold
2002 Tehran
Aram Margaryan
60 kg
 Gold
2005 Budapest
Martin Berberyan
60 kg
 Bronze
2006 Guangzhou
Ruslan Basiev
120 kg
 Bronze
2013 Budapest
David Safaryan
66 kg
 Gold
2017 Paris
Georgy Ketoyev
97 kg
 Bronze
2017 Paris
Levan Berianidze
125 kg
 Bronze
2021 Oslo
Arsen Harutyunyan (wrestler)
61 kg
 Bronze
2022 Belgrade
Arsen Harutyunyan (wrestler)
61 kg
 Bronze
2023 Belgrade
Arsen Harutyunyan (wrestler)
57 kg
 Bronze
2023 Belgrade
Vazgen Tevanyan
65 kg
 Bronze
2023 Belgrade
Arman Andreasyan
70 kg
 Bronze :

### European Championships (Women)

| Year | Athlete | Style and weight | Position | Ref |
| 2006 Moscow | Karine Shadoyan | Freestyle 72 kg | Bronze | |

### World Cup

| Year | Position | Style | Member athletes | Ref |
| 2009 Clermont-Ferrand | Bronze | Greco-Roman | | |
| 2010 Yerevan | Bronze | Greco-Roman | 55 kg: Roman Amoyan & Harutyun Hovhannisyan 60 kg: Artak Harutyunyan & Vahan Juharyan 66 kg: Arman Adikyan & Hovhannes Varderesyan 74 kg: Varsham Boranyan & Arsen Julfalakyan 84 kg: Denis Forov & Tigran Sahakyan 96 kg: Arman Geghamyan & Sargis Tonoyan 120 kg: Yury Patrikeyev & Vachik Yeghiazaryan | |