Armenian athletes win first Olympic medals for Armenia

On August 5, Ripsime Khurshudyan, a female representative of Armenian, won for the country the first medal of the London Olympic Games, having occupied the third place in the competitions in weightlifting in the weight category over 75 kg. Armenian athlete Arsen Djulfalakyan became vice-champion of the Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling in weight category of up to 75 kg.

Ripsime Khurshudyan, European Champion and the bronze medallist of world championships, took the weight of 128 kg in the snatch. Initially, Ripsime Khurshudyan lifted 158 kg in the snatch, and then, after two attempts, she managed to lift 166 kg. As a result of double event, she showed the result of 294 kg and won the bronze medal. The gold medal went to Zhou Lulu, a representative of China, 333 kg (146+187), and the silver medal went to Russian athlete Tatiana Kashirina 332 (151+181) kg.

Ogsen Mirzoyan, Olympic Champion in weightlifting, has emphasized that Ripsime won a deserved victory. "It is a pity that during the second approach in the snatch she made a mistake, her elbows of two hands pressed together and she missed the opportunity of that approach," Ogsen Mirzoyan said. He has stressed the importance of the fact that she got no trauma because of her error, did not experience any pain and confidently went to the third approach.

On August 5, at the competitions in Greco-Roman wrestling at the London Olympic Games, Armenian athlete Arsen Djulfalakyan won the silver medal. In the final, the Armenian athlete was defeated by Roman Vlasov, his competitor from Russia, World Champion of 2011.

Arsen Djulfalakyan is World Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling of 2009 and the bronze medallist of the World Championships of 2012. The athlete is being coached by his father Levon Djulfalakyan, Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling in Seoul in 1988.

"We all were happier with the bronze medal of Ripsime than with the silver medal of Djulfalakyan. Just in the last case, there was hope for gold. However, in all cases it is a great success, and we should not be sad in any case," Karen Giloyan, a sports commentator, believes.