Artur Aleksanyan
Gyumri's White Bear, on four straight Olympic podiums
- Born
- October 21, 1991, Gyumri, Armenia
- Nationality
Armenia- Height
- 190 cm (6′3″)
- Style
- Gut-wrench finisher
- Weight
- 96 kg, 98 kg, 97 kg
- Active
- 2011–present
- Status
- Active · age 34
The medals
Olympic gold, 2 silvers, 1 bronze; 4 world titles
The story
rtur Aleksanyan learned wrestling in Gyumri from his father and coach, Gevorg, and has stood on the Olympic podium at four straight Games. He took bronze at 96 kg in London in 2012, then won world titles in 2014 and 2015, beating Iran's Ghasem Rezaei, the man who had knocked him out in London, both times. At Rio 2016 he beat Turkey's Cenk İldem by technical fall with a gut wrench in the semi-final and Cuba's Yasmany Lugo in the final, Armenia's first Olympic title since Armen Nazaryan in 1996. He added world titles in 2017 and 2022, Olympic silvers in Tokyo and Paris and seven European titles, and was still competing at the 2025 World Championships. On the Rio podium he revealed a shirt honouring a soldier killed on Armenia's border earlier that year.
- Olympic champion, 98 kg (2016)
- Olympic silver (2020, 2024) and bronze (2012)
- World champion (2014, 2015, 2017, 2022)
- European champion 7 times (2012–2024)
- European Games champion (2019)
- Armenian Athlete of the Year (2014, 2015)
- Honorary citizen of Yerevan (2016)
- Armenia's flag bearer at the Rio 2016 closing ceremony
Defining matches
- 2015WINvs Ghasem Rezaei (World final; also beat him in the 2014 world semi-final)
- 2016WINvs Cenk İldem (Olympic semi-final, technical fall via gut wrench)
- 2016WINvs Yasmany Lugo (Olympic final)
- 2021LOSSvs Musa Evloev (Olympic final)
- 2024LOSSvs Mohammad Hadi Saravi (Olympic final, 1–4)
Make par terre your scoring zone: a tight gut wrench, chest to back with hands locked at the belly, can turn one passivity call into a technical fall. Aleksanyan's gut wrench carried him through his Rio 2016 semi-final.
1980–1996
