Albert Azaryan

Azaryan competed at the USSR Championship in 1953. The judges were very strict and Azaryan felt nervous. When it was his turn, Azaryan pulled himself up on the rings and performed his own special technique. The judges did not give him an assessment at the time but he was invited to the next championship. It would later turn out that the judges had rated Azaryan’s innovation as something «unprecedented.» This technique Azaryan had performed would later become known as the «Azaryan Cross.»

Azaryan became a member of the Soviet national men’s gymnastics team and competed with them at the 1954 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Alongside Azaryan on the team was friend and fellow Armenian Hrant Shahinyan. The Soviet team won gold in the team competition and Azaryan himself won the gold medal in rings. Azaryan joined the rest of the Soviet team at the 1955 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships one year later. Azaryan became the European Champion in rings. He came behind stablemate Boris Shakhlin in most of the competitions, including coming second to Shakhlin on the high bars and individual all-around. He also had a three-way tie with Shakhlin and Helmut Bantz on the parallel bars, resulting in three gold medalists.

Azaryan competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics in every men’s gymnastics competition. He came in seventh place in the individual all-around. Both Azaryan and the Soviet team won the gold medal in the team all-around. He also came in fifth in the parallel bars and eighth in the horizontal bar. When it came time for the still rings, Azaryan won the gold medal and became the Olympic Champion in rings. Two years later came the 1958 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Azaryan and the Soviet team defended their World Championship on the team all-around and Azaryan himself defended his own World Championship on the rings, winning gold medals for both. He also won a silver medal on the horizontal bar.

In his final Olympic participation, Azaryan competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics. The Soviet team was unable to retain their Olympic title in the team all-around, coming in second to the Japanese team. Azaryan, however, won the Olympic gold medal in the still rings for a second time and made history as the first Olympian to become an Olympic Champion in the rings twice. This feat has only been matched once ever since, by Akinori Nakayama twelve years later. Azaryan retired from gymnastics shortly afterward.

Azaryan was the flag bearer for Armenia at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics and is the third and fourth Olympian to bear the flag of Armenia at the Summer Olympics. He also became the first flag bearer to bear the flag of Armenia twice. Azaryan was originally intended to also bear the Armenian flag at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but the decision was reversed due to his age.Azaryan served as President of the Armenian Gymnastics Federation from 1998 to 2021