On April 3-11, the 33-rd women’s and 99-th men’s European Weightlifting Championship was held in Moscow, Russia. It was postponed since last year due to the coronavirus. Armenia represented 14 athletes (men and women) in the championship, who won two gold, two silver and four bronze medals in doubles.
Karen Avagyan and Samvel Gasparyan won the title of Champion of Europe. In the 89 kg weight category, Karen Avagyan was unsurpassed with the result of 375 kg in doubles. In the snatch exercise, he held a 175 kg barbell over his head, and in the push exercise, he recorded a result of 200 kg.
In the 102 kg weight category, Samvel Gasparyan became a champion with the result of 390 kg in doubles, snatching 176 kg and pushing 214 kg. Arsen Martirosyan (102 kg) and Gor Minasyan (+109 kg) became the silver medalists of the European Championship, registering 380 kg and 464 kg, respectively. Liana Gyurjyan (81 kg), Andranik Karapetyan (89 kg), Hakob Mkrtchyan (96 kg) and Varazdat Lalayan (+109 kg) took the 3rd place. Gyurjyan registered a result of 227 kg, Karapetyan - 365 kg, Mkrtchyan - 372 kg, and Lalayan - 445 kg. In the team fight, the Armenian team took the 3-rd place with 2 gold-silver and 4 bronze medals. The leader is the team of the Ukraine (4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze medal), and the second place belongs to Bulgaria (3 gold, 3 silver և 1 bronze).
The other representatives of Armenia registered the following results.
Isabella Yaylyan (55 kg) registered a result of 90 kg in the snatch exercise, winning a small silver medal, and finished the push exercise with a figure of 105 kg. Yaylyan took the fourth place with the result of 195 kg. Rafik Harutyunyan (81 kg) took the first place in Group B with a result of 346 kg (150 kg + 196 kg) in the 81 kg weight category. Besides, as a result of the push exercise, the Armenian weightlifter set a youth record and won a small bronze medal. Davit Hovhannisyan (96 kg) took the 5-th place in the snatch exercise with the result of 165 kg, and got zero in the push, not being able to push the 195 kg barbell three times. World, European champion, Olympic silver medalist Simon Martirosyan (109 kg) won a small gold medal in the snatch with a result of 190 kg, and got zero in the push. Tatev Hakobyan (87 kg) took the 9-th place with 221 kg, and Arpine Dalalyan was the fourth with 221 kg in the category of +87 kg in double.
Vahram Dumanyan, RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and Deputy Minister Karen Giloyan paid a working visit to Moscow on April 8-12. They followed the performances of Armenian weightlifters on the spot.
