ARMENPRESS // Strong medal ambitions: Armenian athletes reflect on Baku World Championships results

The Armenian Greco-Roman wrestling team returned from the U17 World Championships in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku with three medals.



Janes Nazaryan won the gold medal in the 71 kg weight category, while Ararat Avetisyan (48 kg) and Gevorg Harutyunyan (51 kg) claimed bronze medals.

Speaking at a press conference, head coach Gagik Khachatryan praised his team for doing a “tremendous job,” while saying that it could have achieved even more.





“Our team competed with 10 wrestlers and came away with three medals. I am very pleased with our medalists; they truly did a tremendous job. This is the World Championships, where the strongest wrestlers compete and the battle for medals is extremely difficult. We also had other athletes who were capable of winning medals, but it did not work out. Naturally, we will analyze our shortcomings and mistakes and continue working on them,” Khachatryan said.

Referring to the medalists, Khachatryan said they had given the team great pride by raising Armenia’s flag and hearing the Armenian national anthem played in Baku.

“It was a very emotional and inspiring moment. When Janes won the gold medal and Armenia’s national anthem was about to be played, we even thought they might not allow it, but there were no problems at all. The officiating was also fair. To be honest, we had concerns before traveling, but the situation on the ground turned out to be completely different,” Khachatryan said.

Gold medalist Janes Nazaryan became a U17 world champion for the second time. He said the responsibility was even greater this time, especially given the level of competition.





“Since I had also won gold the last time, I was the center of attention for all the participants. There was pressure, but I managed to overcome it. I am satisfied with my bouts, and we worked well together with the coaches. There were some mistakes, but, thank God, they did not affect the overall result. Of all my matches, I would single out the final against Russia’s Aslan Dzuev. At first, the bout did not go according to our plan, but thanks to my coaches’ guidance, I managed to achieve a good result,” Nazaryan said.

Team member Gevorg Harutyunyan fought through injury to win the bronze medal. He injured his hand in his opening bout, but his determination to win a medal was so strong that he ignored the pain and continued competing to finish in third place.





“I wrestled opponents from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia. I suffered an injury to my hand in my very first bout, and it affected me somewhat. Otherwise, I think I could have gone further. It was difficult, but once I realized I had a chance to win the bronze medal, I ignored the pain in my hand and fought until the end,” Harutyunyan said.

Ararat Avetisyan, who added another bronze medal to Armenia’s tally, said the competition was very strong and that he was satisfied with finishing third under those circumstances. The medal is Avetisyan’s third bronze medal at the international level.





“The opponents were strong, but my desire to win a medal was even stronger. I am happy that I managed to overcome the difficulties and claim the bronze medal. During the medal ceremony, I felt great pride seeing Armenia’s flag raised in Baku,” Avetisyan said, adding that he now intends to work on his mistakes and shortcomings and prepare even better in the future.